Return of the Dark Lord
by sephiroth12285
Summary: Before Japan fell to the Britannian Empire an ancient shadow lurking in the body of a young boy awakens, seven years later he is ready to begin his return to power and to reshape the entire world. Masters of the Grail War beware for comes the Dark Lord
1. Chapter 1 Whispers in the Dark

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, Fate/Stay-Night and Code Geass including all related materials and references mentioned in this story.

A/N: Well this is something I have been working on…some of you have seen me suggest and announce this idea in some of my recent fics. I can finally say I have completed the first chapters and given this is crossovered with the great works of J.R.R. Tolkien I shall do my upmost to deliver a descent story, although I will sadly confess there will be some trial and error with characters and such along the way since this is not only my first time doing Fate/Stay Night and Lord of the Rings, but trying to cross over the two worlds with Code Geass will be difficult so please bare with me. Hell up till now this chapter alone along with the second chapter both underwent multiple rewrites and revisions over the past year, but now I have a solid start for the story.

As it says in the summary the Dark Lord Sauron has been reincarnated (technically he didn't die in a sense I suppose, but was crippled for all time more or less, but I guess it depends on how you want to consider his state after the third age) into a certain human being's body with the One Ring having been restored along with him. Now awake and roaming a brand new world that has undergone many changes since the Third Age. Having reinvented himself and regained all of his strength and more with a renewed sense of purpose and drive behind his actions the Dark Lord is ready to return to power, but little does he and others know a third power was responsible for his return. The question is should the return of the Dark Lord Sauron and Britannia be what the people should be afraid of the most…or is it something else. With the coming of the Fifth Holy Grail war that question might have an answer.

Anyway on with the story and I hope you enjoy it.

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><p><em>Three Rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,<em>

_Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,_

_Nine for Mortal Men doomed to die,_

_One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne_

_In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie._

_One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them,_

_One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them_

_In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie._

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 1<strong>

**Whispers in the Dark**

It was an hour pass midnight as a young girl with light gray hair that hung down a little past her waist line dressed in a blue dress with white cuffs and white around her collar with two black strands of clothing acting as a type of tie, but overall the young woman despite her youth was a priestess and right now the Kotominie Church was in her possession due to its former resident and owner disappearing for reasons unknown.

At the moment she was sitting inside the confession box waiting for someone she had been expecting to come…after a long period of time waiting the person she was waiting for came. The girl listened quietly as he entered the box although he couldn't see her and he couldn't see her as well due to the wall separating the two they were fully aware of the other's presence.

Caren Ortensia closed her yellow eyes for a moment before taking a deep breath.

"Bless me sister, for I have sinned. This is my first confession sister." The young man in the booth next door began.

"There is no doubt you have…please begin whenever you are ready."

"My story is indeed very long sister…in the beginning I was a being of divine nature I stood with the creator and sang the song of creation along with him and those like me. I did not join the evil one at first when he rebelled, but I did so later, but my reasons are my own for doing so. However that is merely the beginning of my tale, but know that I have committed unimaginable sins through my long existence and once more when I was reborn into this world in a human body."

"I see you may begin at any point you feel you have plenty of time." Caren said coaxing for the young man to begin.

"If that is the case then I advise thee to make yourself comfortable then…for through the ages I had lived I went by many names, but these days I use two new names…let I am perhaps better known for the name I am known by many…Sauron."

* * *

><p>(Eight Years Ago…Kururugi Beach Side Estate, Japan)<p>

_It was a dream the same one he has had many times before he saw a tall armored man who stood at an imposing near nine feet tall wearing heavy dark gray fluted plate armor over mail designed to inspire terror and dread in all who looked upon the walking giant. The pauldrons possessed extravagantly dangerous radiating spikes which were among the examples of an overall threatening theme that encompasses every component of the armor as all of the plates appeared to be heavily etched, engraved or otherwise elaborated on with raised detail. The most defining feature of all was the great helm in particular that was composed of multiple, overlapping serrated blades of metal, rising to spires forming a frightening crown-like design. _

_In his right hand was a fearsome heavy black mace, but oddly out of place was a golden ring upon his right index finger. He watched the towering armored figure marching pass fleeing monstrosities who appeared humanoid in shape and height, but they were hideous in appearance wearing armor. Some were fleeing from the opposing armor while others were moving out of the way of the towering figure as he moved towards the front lines to confront his enemies head on. _

_Raising his mace up the armored figure swung striking the enemy soldiers before him, but upon contact a blast of energy was released…one powerful enough to send whole battalions flying through the air. As they charged the armored giant more of them fell before his might, one swing and more of his enemies were felled before him._

_Finally an elderly man in ornate silver and gold armor approached attempting to land a blow, but a swift blow to the side of the head sent him flying impacting into a large stone on the slope of a tall imposing black volcano. The armored giant turned and made his way over to the mortally wounded old man, but upon inspection the armored clad giant would see that the impact of his land knocking his helmet off revealing a familiar face the dreamer had seen in real life, but now…he was laying at his feet before him at HIS mercy. _

_In the dream he was the armored giant, but the dream's meaning was lost on him. _

* * *

><p>"Lelouch! It's me!"<p>

A child's voice screamed as the young ten year old boy woke from the drug-induced slumber forced him, but even so his entire body was numb with his mind effectively a mess as he was unable to make out anything in the room around him. Save for perhaps the voice of a child he knew discovering his limp form upon ground as the sounds of his groaning led the boy straight to him.

"Hey Lelouch wake up!"

Suzaku Kururugi attempted to sit the drugged boy up, but he instinctively began fighting back resulting in the child biting the young boy's arm.

"Ouch it's me you idiot!"

Lelouch struggling while Suzaku fended off the Britannian prince's wild attacks subconsciously trying to protect himself from what Lelouch was perceiving as someone attacking him and so fought back fiercely despite the drugs' effects on his body.

"Damn it Lelouch what's with you."

"Father!"

Lelouch responded, but the Japanese boy easily deduced it wasn't him he was talking to.

"You knew…you…you knew…this would happen…you abandoned us!"

Lelouch shouted with his eyes filled with hatred as he tried his best to fight off the effects of the drugs. Suzaku understood then that the Britannian Prince along with his younger sister Nunnally vi Britannia had been sent to Japan months ago to serve as political hostages in Japan…cast aside after the death of their mother by the Emperor himself.

"Nunnally WHERE is Nunnally!" Lelouch cried out.

"I'll find her Lelouch!"

"Save Nunnally!" Lelouch cried out again obviously not realizing Suzaku was present in the room as the Japanese boy hurried out to recues the young crippled girl, but as he hurried out the door his feet kicked a small gold ring that had fallen from the finger of the last person who had been in the room. The ring slid across the floor heading for the drugged young man until it stopped making contact with his right hand.

Upon contact with the ring the young boy's body settled down as the drugs seemingly took effect, finally knocking him unconscious, but…that wasn't the case as a moment later Lelouch's hand moved grasping the gold band before using thumb and middle finger to slip it onto his index finger. Suddenly the former prince's body violently jerked backwards as he was suddenly lying flat on his back trying to scream, but no words came forth from his mouth.

The drugs his body was injected with was purged from his system, but so much more was happening at that moment as upon the simple band of gold on the ring fiery Tengwar letters in an ancient and appalling language all but forgotten in this day and age appeared upon the ring.

But alone the young man knew it now as a power buried within him was awakened the moment the ring slipped onto his finger, but at the same time because of its nature the ring was already amplifying the newly awakened inherent power of its new owner.

However rather than new owner…the ring had unexpectedly returned to the hand of its maker, reincarnated into the world after he was crippled forever. But only now through unknown means he was reborn into a new body the young man recognized this as memories of another life came back to him in a flood that engulfed both his mind and soul completely.

_I remember…I remember everything! _

A few minutes later as Lelouch's body settled his eyes opened, but in place of his amethyst ones…his eyes had taken on the characteristics of a cat, but were seemingly wreathed with flames within them. Meanwhile inside his study Genbu Kururugi the Prime Minster of Japan was on the phone with one of his new allies. The corrupt Prime Minster of Japan sat contently on the sofa after his meeting with Tohdoh had expectantly well to a certain degree…although right now he was held prisoner in one of the other rooms on the estate.

The meeting Genbu was thinking of was when Kyoshiro Tohdoh was made aware of Genbu's intentions for purposely provoking war between Japan and Britannia for his own personal gain. Despite being the Prime Minster of Japan he didn't hold any real power and was basically a figurehead with real power of Japan's government in the hands of the Six Houses of Kyoto, but unfortunately Genbu wasn't satisfied and wanted more power for himself.

Lelouch vi Britannia was going to be insurance that he gets what he wants when everything was said and done while Nunnally who had considered selling to a brothel had decided instead of kill her as a form of mercy. His smile faded as he spoke to the muffled voice of the caller on the other line while he held his cell phone next to his ear.

"It's me…how many? …Hmph so Tohdoh wasn't that stupid after all. Fine…leave them alone it's just a matter of the master answering to the yelp of his dog. That Kirihara…I guess he was more suspicious of me than I had thought."

Genbu said as he rose from the sofa walking over to the window to peak outside through the blinds using his fingers.

"…Yes they probably had a bug on him. If that's the case then I better let him leave. That's right there is no reason to give them an excuse."

The corrupt Prime Minster began walking towards the door to the study.

"The schedule change? Heh you fool. Once they step into this mansion they are doomed. The demon is not that stupid."

A brief silence passed as the caller revealed something to the prime minster.

"Ashford…I see so that is the connection. But once I let the dog go home they can't do anything. Besides…heh heh, right, if I accomplish that fact now then I won't be the one to fall, it's been a long time for that demon. As soon as that girl dies, his power is gone…"

Before Genbu could open the door the door opened on its own from the other side and standing there blocking his path was a small ten year old boy dressed in white dogi and navy blue hakama. At first Genbu had expected someone else, but the fact the last person he was expecting to interrupt him angered the man.

"What do you want Suzaku?"

Suzaku didn't respond, but he kept starring at his father his eyes surprisingly emotionless.

"I am asking you again what do you want Suzaku? Your father is very busy right now."

Suddenly the caller interrupted the silent standoff.

"It's me…no its nothing. I'll call you back just keep quiet until then."

Genbu hung up his phone before stuffing the cell phone into his pocket.

"Suzaku…"

"Father…"

Suzaku finally spoke while Genbu was keeping his left arm hidden behind his back.

"Please father, please don't start a war."

The young child asked leaving the elder Kururugi dumbfounded for a moment until he asked.

"What?"

"Please father, don't hurt those two?"

"What are you talking about don't be foolish!"

Genbu snapped in disgust.

"Please father…" Suzaku said grabbing his father's arm trying to stop him, but proceeded to shove him aside.

"Stand aside you stupid child I am going to take care of the girl…stay inside!"

As Genbu shoved his son out of his way and to the ground aside, but he failed to notice the object behind him thanks to his vision being clouded and his entire body went stiff unable to move.

_What is happening? _

**_I see your thoughts Genbu Kururugi…you planned to sell my sister off to brothel and now you intend to kill her as a form of mercy…this is something I can't allow and you shall die for it. _**

A dark menacing voice invaded his mind prompting the Prime Minster to look forward into the darkness of the hallway behind where he saw Lelouch vi Britannia standing there having somehow overcome the drugs he had injected him with to knock him out and paralyze his body for a long period of time. But unlike the times he had seen the boy even as his vision cleared he saw one obvious change.

The young man's eyes had become cat-like seemingly aflame as his eyes glowed brightly in the darkness.

**_But I won't have to do anything…I'll let Suzaku handle this. Thanks to me not only can you not move, but you failed to notice the object he was hiding. Goodbye Prime Minster. _**

With those words Lelouch faded into the shadows vanishing from sight before Genbu felt something sharp pierce his torso.

"You can't leave father…"

"Gah…ugh…Suzaku…you!"

Those were the final words of Genbu Kururugi as he fell backwards with Tohdoh's Katana being pulled out as he fell leaving the blade covered in blood. Having phased into the spiritual realm to avoid being seen…Lelouch vi Britannia now within the shadow world watched Genbu's death with a satisfied smile, but yet he oddly felt some pity for Suzaku who would now have to carry with him the burden of murdering his father although he had discreetly helped him commit the crime so technically the former prince had aided in the murder of his friend's father.

As he spoke to Genbu he realized now how his ring had come back to him…it had come into his possession eight years ago as a gift he had received and had discovered its powers of invisibility which he had used to further his own political career by obtaining information about political rivals and enemies so he could ruin them or force them to aid him to further his own gains. He had used it once again tonight to drug Lelouch without him being seen by anyone and was planning to use it when he killed Nunnally, but he failed to realize that the ring had taken the opportunity to slip from his hand falling onto the ground in the room near the young man…to return to the reincarnated hand of its maker

Deciding it was best Lelouch returned to his room before anyone realized he was gone, but not before he cast back once glance at Suzaku.

Hours later after a cleanup was conducted at the estate Suzaku having been cleaned up by Tohdoh although he would have no memory of it happening with old man Kirihara himself overseeing the mop of the situation regarding the death of Genbu Kururugi. Lelouch walked outside after seemingly having recovered from the effects of the drugs, but no one knew he had recovered a lot sooner than expected. He found Suzaku standing in the room looking down at the ground, but he didn't call at to him at first…he instead remembered checking on Nunnally once she had been brought back to her room.

_"Brother, thank goodness you are alright…what happened?"_

_"I am not sure, but everything is alright now?" _

_"I am glad, but what about Suzaku?"_

_"You don't need to worry and besides I'll take care of everything…just don't worry everything will be alright now." _

_Nunnally felt nervous for reasons she couldn't explain, but felt a change come over her brother. _

"Suzaku, you're finally here. What happened?"

Lelouch asked with feigned concern knowing full well what had happened hours ago. He observed Suzaku was in new clothes a change from the ones which had likely been stained with blood.

"…Lelouch where is Nunnally?" Suzaku inquired without emotion in his words.

"Oh she just came back…she is inside."

"I see and you are awake now…"

"Just now. Anyway, what happened…considering the situation even you…"

"It's okay everything is over."

Suzaku said interrupting Lelouch again as he held him as he did hours before until he grabbed onto Lelouch's shirt trying to support himself as he fell to his knees.

"Suzaku…hey let go… Actually, can you explain what happened?"

"…Lelouch…I…" Suzaku began as tears filled his eyes.

"?"

"I…"

"What?"

"…am never going to use my power for myself…"

"Suzaku?"

"Never again…I can't…Lelouch…"

"I see…"

_You would never join me in remaking this world will you…I could end you here…I feel your desire for death, but…_

The imagine of Nunnally and Suzaku together came to mind which caused the young man to immediately reconsider killing him, a possible annoyance he could be in the future yes…however his feelings for Nunnally held him back. Lelouch tried as hard as he could to purge the memory of the crippled and helpless blind girl from his thoughts, but he couldn't…he couldn't part himself of the girl and couldn't even conjure the will to harm her.

However reason in his mind prevailed.

_Alright…I won't kill you Suzaku Kururugi…for Nunnally's sake I won't. But yet this hesitation and this human heart I have…_

* * *

><p>In Undying Lands a man robed in white and silver sat at a white metallic table slipping tea when suddenly he felt a surge of energy coming from the gold ring he wore upon his finger. For thousands of years its power had faded, but now he felt the ring's magic suddenly renewed. At the same time the vision of a flaming eye appeared in his mind causing him to quickly drop his tea cup and swiftly remove the ring from his finger.<p>

Sitting across from him sat a woman in black shimmering robes possessing long black hair and beautiful features, but her face held sadness for the world…yet now she was concerned for the man across from her.

"What is it?" Nienna inquired.

"I am not sure, but…something has regained its power when it shouldn't have…" Olorin spoke while obviously concerned for the possible implications behind his ring, Narya the Ring of Fire, regaining its power where it should have lost it.

There was only one way for the ring to have regained its powers…he felt it slowly for the past several years…only tonight did he feel its power fully revive.

* * *

><p>The following day Lelouch was brought into an empty room of the mansion they remained at where the former prince was meeting with a man in a black suit wearing dark glasses and a scar on his neck. The older man was seated on a blue tatami with his legs tucked under him. Before he spoke he bowed with his hands upon the mat he sat on in traditional Japanese greeting.<p>

"It's been awhile Prince Lelouch, since Narita."

Lelouch remembered the man before them as the one who had escorted them to Japan months ago, but the former prince was silent for a moment before a grin appeared on his face.

"Not Narita…"

The eyebrow on the man's face went up slightly.

"And while isn't accurate I would have to say twenty days ago. Judging from the fact that you are here I have to guess you were able to escape weren't you?"

The room grew still and quiet for a moment until the man removed his glasses.

"You knew?"

"No…I guessed…"

Lelouch replied shrugging his shoulders.

"I thought about it afterwards, so I came to this conclusion based on a few facts I noticed. For one thing…as far as an assassination went it wasn't very well planned out and you guys didn't have any weapons."

Lelouch remembered that about twenty days ago a group of men ambushed Suzaku and himself while they had been on the way home as they had been traveling along a mountain trail. Suzaku bested most of them physically while Lelouch ended the fight with his intellect driving them off. He had thought it was an assassination attempt, but after thinking about it afterwards it was something that was rather far from it since there were better methods of assassination they could have used.

The man laughed wryly at Lelouch's response before he replied.

"I see…I was scolded by my master for that incident."

"I am sure, but what are you here for today? Have you given up on kidnapping us?"

"Yes…actually there is no longer any need for that. We have settled with the people here, so it looks like I can keep my job."

"I see. I understand some of it, but I don't quite get the rest. Why did you even try to kidnap us?"

"That was to protect your life and your sister's."

"I thought the Ashford Family had cut off support for me and my sister?"

"Are you seriously saying that?"

"No…but on the other hand I suppose we would have been dead a long time ago."

It was true in a sense and it was something the Kururugi Family wouldn't have been aware of.

"But yet why…we were stripped of our rights to the throne…what is the point of supporting a prince with no future. Would could Ashford gain from it?"

"It's our policy to seek gain from where there seems to be none."

"I see…very well I will not ask about it any further."

"Thank you very much."

"But at least explain why you are here?"

"Yes I was going to have you and your sister die."

The true meaning behind those words dawned upon Lelouch in that instance.

"I see now it makes sense…that is why you wanted to kidnap us."

"It's my specialty in that area and right now it's the best method open to us. It took awhile, but I now have all of the proper documents together…we only need now the right time to turn them in."

"If you say so then my sister and I will be in greater danger than before."

"Yes…"

"So basically you want us to throw away our name and status?"

"There is no other way to protect you two…if you stop being a prince then the ones after your lives will no longer have a reason to."

Lelouch gave it some thought, but not for too long when he responded.

"Fine."

"You'll accept?"

"It's like you said…it's the best method available. I will not ask anymore about it, but I would like to ask…are the ones seeking to end our lives the ones who killed my mother?"

The man's face hardened for the first time, but Lelouch already knew the answer since he had been picking at the man's mind gleaming through his thoughts. His offer was true and genuine, but he knew the Ashford's were going to be keeping them for liability insurance only.

_However…_

Lelouch proceeded to rub the gold ring upon his right index finger.

_I'll make sure it all works out. _

Lelouch knew he would have to wait patiently anyway since this young child's body he was stuck in restricted him and offered a number of vulnerabilities and weaknesses so playing dead and hiding would work for him the best right now…at least until he got a little older at least. He didn't quite understand how his creation had been restored and yet found its way back to him nor did he comprehend how he was reborn into this world in the boy of this child after being crippled and left as a mere spirit by the Ring's destruction, but regardless he would wait and regain even more strength as his new body grows into maturity.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile across the land and sea on the far corner of the planet in a desolate desert region near the foot of a dead ancient volcano that has been inactive beyond what human history has recorded. There were no resources within miles of the mountain so no one had bothered settling upon the lifeless landscape save for perhaps some desert wildlife like a lizard which was scurrying about the ground searching for a meal.<p>

As it searched the creature stopped suddenly as it felt the ground under its feet beginning to shake, but soon bits of metal began shooting up through the ground and collecting in the air where black cloth and armor began to materialize. As the lizard fled more began to materialize up to a total of eight beings. Minutes passed as eight dark beings grabbed in black cloth and mail armor had taken shape upon the barren soil near the foot of what was once Orodruin, but better known to those during the Third and Second ages as Mount Doom.

After their bodies had reformed after having disintegrated upon the destruction of the One Ring and the flaming rocks raining down upon them and their mounts, but now for what reasons beyond them and their master they had returned to the world reforming from nothing…only the ninth member of their group failed to reappear.

Likely due to his death at the hands of others before the destruction of the ring, but regardless eight of perhaps the most terrible of servants known were now walking the Earth once more. The Nazgul along with their master had returned and they sensed their master had the ring once more.

Back in Japan as he lay in his bed Lelouch opened his eyes aware of the return of his deadest servants. He was very pleased by this outcome…while it wasn't armies of orcs and goblins at his beck and call the Nazgul were a lot more than he had could have ever hoped for. Closing his eyes he reached out to the minds of his servants to communicate with them.

He didn't sense the Lord of the Nazgul, but it was fine he still had eight out of nine which was far better than none.

'_My servants hear your master…search the ruins of my tower and bring me whatever relics and tools I can use.'_

'_We hear and obey…master…' _

The Ringwraiths howled into the night releasing a terrible screech of death as they began moving according to their master's will. Although he had no idea how he came back to this world even through by all accounts with the ring's destruction it should have crippled him for all time, but yet he was reborn in a human form with his ring back upon his finger.

The Dark Lord Sauron had returned.

* * *

><p>AN: there were a lot of ways I had planned for this to happen besides Lelouch being the reborn form of Sauron and among those was making him his descendant, but that idea was scrapped due to a lack of materials and ideas. Now pairings haven't been fully decided yet, but other LOTR characters like Gandalf will appear in the coming chapters while we'll have a seven year time skip. The selection for most of the servants has already been decided and in light of the numerous revisions and rewrites the poll for the original pairings for this fic has been discarded and I'll worry about pairing Lelouch will someone until later on (although I am moving to pair Lelouch with Caster a.k.a. Medea). I'll update chapters when I can and I do have a decent number already made, but I'll take my time posting because I want to get a collective feedback on the story so far and see if there isn't anything I can do to make it better and such.

Updates will be slow, not only for my other two works I am doing, but if there are any revisions and modifications I need to make I can do so. I have other chapters premade already, but I will wait for awhile for feedback and reviews to gauge how well the story is progressing...but its mostly for when I introduce any LOTR characters and conduct any battles involving the Nazgul and such for example.


	2. Chapter 2 Dark Lord Rising

Disclaimer: I do not own Code Geass, Lord of the Rings and related stories and materials, and Fate/Stay Night.

A/N: First off thank you for the reviews and second due to a slight oversight on my part I should have specified that Caster appearing and being paired with Lelouch is Medea so that's my fault since in Fate/Zero there is a male Caster so my bad and I updated the author note in the last chapter. She'll be appearing in chapter four, but we have some catch up to do with Dark Lord Lelouch and a few certain Fate characters to meet.

So thanks to the positive response I got so far I am posting chapter 2 early.

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Dark Lord Rising

(Seven Years Later)

It was late January as businesses such as the Royal Flush Casino was doing well as it drew in new visitors both regular and new as the slot machines and card tables were crowded with people waging and gambling away their money hoping to change that small amount of currency into new wealth for themselves. Walking pass the rows of slot machines and card tables towards the back were a pair of high school students, both of them attended the same school as one could tell by their uniforms but their genders were different.

Walking ahead of his companion was a seventeen year old Lelouch Lamperouge wearing a black and gold trimmed Ashford Academy uniform for males while his companion was obviously female wearing the Jasmine colored coat, short black skirt, long blue socks, black shoes, a white collar shirt and a green tie possessing the Ashford crest on it.

The girl was only a year younger than Lelouch, but her plum-colored hair and matching colored eyes including her pale porcelain like skin were certainly eye catching as was her sensual figure. Although she was worried about people leering at her, but luckily for her the males of the casino were more distracted by the bunny-girl wearing waitresses of older and more mature women, so the young girl didn't have to worry about any possible harassment.

Arriving at a pair of double doors leading to a private lounge used by the owner of the casino Lelouch presented his ID to the man at the door recognizing his name before allowing him entry.

Inside was an impressive looking expressive private bar set up complete with four comfortable leather chairs and a coffee table in-between the chairs, but two of the four were occupied by one an older man with gray hair, a bald spot on the top of his head, small glasses, wearing a white collar, a black vest and matching pants and shoes.

The man across him, obvious the owner judging from his choice of attire, wore a blue suit possessing something of a Victorian feel to it complete with a cravat and a gold vest underneath with blue pants and black shoes. He was middle aged, although he seemed closer to his fifties, he had long brown hair tied into a ponytail and green eyes.

"Thank goodness you are here…how is school doing?" The panicked older man asked thankfully relieved for Lelouch's arrival.

"So you're replacement is a school boy?" The owner remarked while he scoffed at the idea that a high school student could best him. "What's your name boy?"

"Lelouch…Lamperouge…"

"Heh I envy you children you have so much time on your hands."

"Maybe, but I have a busy schedule…Sakura…" Lelouch began turning to his female companion Sakura Matou.

"Yes…" The soft-spoken and demure girl replied.

"How long is it until our next class?"

"I believe about thirty minutes, but it will take us twenty minutes to make it across town."

"Then I'll settle this in less than ten minutes and be sure that you drive safely on the way back." Lelouch replied with a confident smile as he traded places with the old man taking over his chess game where he had been losing rather badly, but with the young former prince now present things were going to change.

"Ten minutes you must be joking."

"Let's fine out then." Lelouch began moving with the king first as Sakura watched silently at the young man who was something of an older brother to her as well as her protector and…her liberator. She remembered meeting him seven years ago…in fact it this month was the sixth anniversary of the time they met.

* * *

><p>(January 5th 2011 A.T.B.)<p>

A eleven year old Lelouch vi Britannia sat quietly in the back of the black SUV as it drove along a road Tokyo while he quietly gazed out the window at the ruined city of Tokyo where signs of the Britannian Occupation force along with colonists were already working to reshape the christened Area 11 in whatever way they saw fit. Seated next to him was Nunnally who was silent uncertain where they were going, but the older child next to her knew.

After taking a roundabout route the vehicle arrived in Fuyuki City.

Roughly thirty minutes later the SUV pulled up before a three-story western styled mansion which seemed somewhat out of place in Japan. Standing outside awaiting them was a withered and very old man with white eyes, ashen pale skin dressed in black and olive green kimono robes. Next to him was a young boy who seemed older than Lelouch with curly blue hair and eyes wearing a white collar shirt and black pants while behind him trying to hide was a young girl who seemed younger than the boy, and maybe even himself as well, with shoulder length purple hair with matching eyes wearing a simple plum-colored dress with a red ribbon tied in her hair.

Their driver opened Nunnally's door before he made his way to the back to bring out his wheelchair while Lelouch was gestured to wait by the man with sunglasses before leaving the driver's seat. Two minutes passed as the man lifted Nunnally into her chair which was then the signal for the former Britannian Prince to exit the vehicle as well.

The driver wheeled the ash-blonde girl's wheelchair around the SUV and stopped next to Lelouch as the elderly man spoke greeting the two children.

"So these are the special children in the care of our new friends the Ashford Family?"

"Yes Mr. Matou…these are Lelouch Lamperouge and Nunnally Lamperouge." Their driver said introducing them to Matou Zouken.

Lelouch eyed the elder Matou curiously because unlike the mere mortal eyes possessed by the driver the reincarnated Dark Lord was capable of seeing things now beyond the mortal veil. The young boy Shinji Matou seemed normal as far as Lelouch could tell, but Zouken was a different story noticing a very large number of snake-like creature squirming about his entire body as well as notice that his body was living well beyond its years.

He noticed similar creatures within the young girl's body, but the infestation wasn't as bad when compared to Zouken.

'_Magical snake-like creatures…a magic wielding family, perhaps it explains why they are members of the nobility and not Honorary Britannians instead.'_

The Dark Lord thought as he deduced based on what he was seeing within the bodies of Zouken and the girl that this family practiced a form of magic which was likely used to ensure with Britannia taking over Japan they would keep their holdings and be elevated to the status of nobility within Area 11, but somehow Lelouch believed there must have been more to it.

"I am Zouken head of the Matou Family as well as grandfather to Shinji and Sakura." The elderly magus said while introducing both himself and his children.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

Lelouch said quietly while observing the elder Matou while his younger sister offered her own greeting.

"Nice to meet you."

Later that day after the two former members of Britannian Royal were escorted to the room the two would be sharing during their stay with the Matou family which according to what Lelouch would be told would be for at least a couple years which by then the Tokyo Settlement would be constructed. Nunnally remained in her wheelchair after Lelouch rolled her into the guest room they would be living in.

"Brother do you think we'll be alright?"

"We'll be fine Nunnally…I'll make sure of it."

"Excuse me…"

A timid voice asked as Lelouch looked to the doorway to find Sakura standing there.

"Oh Sakura…is there something I can help you with?"

"Uh…yes…Lelouch-kun, do you or Nunnally-chan need help?"

"I think we're ok, but thank you for your offer Sakura-chan."

Lelouch said kindly while Sakura bowed her head.

"Not at all."

"She's nice isn't she brother?"

"I suppose she is."

* * *

><p>Returning to the present Sakura held Lelouch in high regard for having done much for her and he including her sister became the only real friends she had in that hellish household, but she respected him more when she ended her suffering some time later. Focusing her mind on the game she watched as Lelouch turning the match around…instead of losing he was unsurprisingly winning.<p>

Back at the Ashford Academy however a group of students had noticed their disappearance becoming rather irked by his disappearance save for perhaps one among them. A total of four girls sat outside on the lawn enjoying lunch…one of them was modest and rather quiet girl with black hair wearing large glasses while the other was more of the athletic type of the group with bright orange hair and yellow eyes and next was the leader of the group.

She was a year older than all of them, but she was easily one of the most beautiful girls in school, some have assumed the obvious reason why, but she was the odd duck of the group possessing short blonde hair and blue eyes.

"Where are Sakura and Lelouch at?" Shirley Fenette demanded before eating a small carrot.

"Rivalz told me Sakura borrowed his bike and side-car so I think they left the school." Nina Einstein answered.

"Those two…AGAIN…if this keeps up Lelouch will be held back a grade." Shirley pointed out after swallowing the carrot she ate. "I can't believe he's gambling again."

"Oh my how you show concern for your Lelouch…it's so cute." Milly Ashford the Student Council President remarked seizing an opportunity to tease the girl.

"That jerk isn't worth it." The forth female of the gathering spat with contempt in her voice.

"Don't tell me you are still sore about losing to Lelouch during the Student Council Sunday Blackjack Game." Milly asked while looking at the forth member of their group who was the same age as Shirley and Nina, but she had long brown hair tied up into two pigtails while the rest hung down pass her shoulders while she had green eyes.

"Be quiet he got lucky…" Rin Tohsaka snapped quietly while her right eye brow began twitching.

"Sure…" Milly began with a playful tone in her voice. "That loss makes it how many now…oh that's right I believe its 697 looses to Lelouch and no wins against him. Three more till seven hundred loses at this rate."

"I…I…I'll win and I swear I'll savor the day I beat Lelouch Lamperouge."

"Like that will ever happen, but just be thankful you haven't challenged him to a game of strip poker." Milly remarked with a hint of sarcasm and amusement in her voice as Rin's face turned red with embarrassment and rage.

Back at the Royal Flush Casino the owner was left in complete shock after Lelouch moved his knight claiming his king seizing victory in a stunning display of expert playing and planning at least sixty moves ahead. He was thanked very kindly by the older man before receiving his hefty cut of the rewards, so now Lelouch and Sakura were in route back to Ashford and they had at least twenty one minutes to spare.

On the way back the former prince and reincarnated Dark Lord sat in the side-car of the motorcycle Sakura was driving on loan from Rivalz Cardemonde, a friend and fellow student as well as a member of the student council like him and Sakura. Among the students Lelouch knew he and Sakura were close like siblings, but not quite as close Lelouch was to Nunnally in that nature at least, but unlike Nunnally she knew his secret.

Sakura knew that Lelouch vi Britannia was in fact the Dark Lord Sauron reborn in human form.

She found out after the on-set of puberty, which caused some problems within her to surface as the magical worms Zouken Matou had infested her body within had begun feeding off of her carnal impulses. This wasn't much of a problem when she was a small child, although she did suffer from some occasions mood swings…but not long after Sakura began undergoing puberty she began experiencing increasingly sexual frustration and it was becoming an apparent problem.

And the old bastard had a solution for it.

* * *

><p>It had happened late during a cold winter night when Shinji Matou under instructions from his grandfather entered Sakura's room, who was unable to sleep due to the problems she was suffering from as a result of the worms within her feeding off of her magical circuits, but Shinji with a twisted smile on his face was going to help her resolve it.<p>

However they were not the only ones up that night as next door to Sakura's room was Zouken's private study and library containing a wide array of books on the magus arts and the arcane known to the modern Magus. It was here Lelouch spent a lot of his evenings for the three years he had spent with the Matou Family studying and thoroughly reading every book in the library expanding his knowledge on the arcane arts. Although he was well versed in the arcane arts of his kind and such the mystic arts known to these Magus were different from most forms of magic he had seen, so he had deemed it worth his time to research their arts.

Due to his awakened true self he didn't really require sleep anymore unless he wanted too or if his body required it to recover any lost strength should he become badly weakened. Lacking little to do other than communicating with his servants the Nazgul during the late night hours the reincarnated Dark Lord occupied much of his time in the evening reading the books contained in the library.

But Sakura's screamed alerted him to something happening next door…at first he didn't want to do anything, but her whimpering and horrified screams nudged something within him to see what was happened. He especially did so after considering the possibility that it could be an assassin looking for him or Nunnally. Quickly putting the book back how he had found it Lelouch faded into the spiritual realm and exited the room, but when he stepped into the next room the young man was frozen at what he was seeing.

Even though he was in the spiritual world he could make out the shapes and enough of the details to realize what Sakura was screaming about. Lelouch was completely repulsed by the scene and he felt an overwhelming urge to stop it building up inside of him, but…the thought of putting that pathetic coward Shinji in his place once and for all spurred him on even more.

Shinji had stopped tying Sakura's arms to the bed frame before he was going to brutally rape her in order to curb her sexual frustrations, but he was also doing this to punish her for taking away his birthright. Her blouse was opened, but the former Matou heir was forced to restrain Sakura when she tried fighting back. He stopped however when the door to her room opened.

Nothing happened for the first few moments, but then Shinji felt a powerful strong invisible hand seize his shoulder ripping him off Sakura throwing him to the ground. The former Matou heir was stunned, but the door closed as the sound of someone chanting in the black speech of Mordor could be heard. After the chanting ended Lelouch appeared before Shinji with his eyes burning bright yellow.

"**I knew you were a pathetic and despicable being, but I…no…I should have known you would have sunk this low." **Lelouch spoke, but his voice had taken on a dark, commanding, but a menacing tone which made Shinji and even Sakura quaked with fear uncertain who to fear most right now…Shinji or Lelouch.

"Lelouch, how dare you do this to me?" Shinji roared as he got up to strike the former royal, but the black haired boy back-handed slapped the young Matou hard across the face before delivering a hard right hook to his nose.

"**Be silent you pathetic excuse for a mortal…I have tolerated you for three years, but for the sake of hiding ourselves I relented. However you belittled Nunnally and Sakura…don't think I didn't know and now I find out you are trying to rape your own sister." **Lelouch said as his voice carried a deadly sense of dread before he added.** "I have reached the end of my patience with you." **

Drawing a gold letter opener he kept in his pocket for self defense Lelouch began chanting what sounded to be another spell of some kind running his finger possessing the ring across the blade before stabbing Shinji in the shoulder with the gold blade. The Matou screamed in agony, but that was only the beginning…the worst was yet to come.

"**I'll dispose of your grandfather after I use you…as pathetic as you are you can least prove useful to me."**

"What are you doing?" Shinji demanded as he felt a sharp pain pierce his heart while the blood around where Lelouch stabbed him turned black while the skin around it turned deadly white. "OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?"

An evil smile appeared on Lelouch's face as he replied.

"**You should be honored to be the sacrifice in which I shall call back my greatest champion to my side."**

"S-s-sacrificed?"

"**Yes…your soul, blood and body are being exchanged to summon back my strongest servant. But before you ask…no one will hear you scream thanks to a barrier I erected around this room to prevent any sound from leaving this room. Just in case you were hoping that worm-filled fool would save you, however fear not…he'll join you soon." **

The pain spiked in Shinji Matou's body as his entire body seemingly began to decay while at the same time began fading into the spirit world. He screamed in terrible agony while Lelouch watched with a sadistic smile on his face while Sakura watched in wide eye bewilderment as in moments the black blood that poured out from every pore in Shinji's body became black cloth while his decaying skin became mail armor.

Not too long after that a familiar horrible screeching could be heard.

Inside his room Zouken Matou was asleep in his bed unaware of the coming danger as the door opened slowly and Lelouch walked inside and the first thing he did was cast a similar spell like the one he had used on Sakura's room before he approached Zouken's bed and he reached out towards Zouken's chest as he appeared to grasp something that was invisible.

Lelouch proceeded to apply pressure to it causing the old man to grip his chest feeling a vice-like grip upon his heart…or more specifically his very life force. The old Magus awoke to see Lelouch standing there as his eyes were glowing bright with flames within them. The old wizard tried to struggle with his words, but he eventually mouthed out.

"L-Lelouch…what…are…?"

"**What am I doing? It's simple I am going to kill you since you would just try to kill me or twist me to be your toy once you find out what I had done with Shinji after I caught him attempting to rape Sakura. You ordered him to do it didn't you? The worms inside her bloodstream, but they are the same ones within you am I right?"**

"…How…"

"**I possess powers and sight beyond your feeble mortal comprehension…I have known since we first came here." **

Lelouch replied as he squeezed Zouken's life force energy harder intending to squeeze the life out of him literally. However the head of the Matou family wasn't about to die so easily as despite his life force essence being crushed he used his worms that emerged from his body in an attempt attack Lelouch, but it was at that moment another figure rushed into the room releasing a terrible bone-chilling screech freezing the worms in place before skillfully using the letter opener to swiftly kill the worms attempting to assault his master.

"**Zouken Matou, please allow me to introduce to you my champion…the Witch King of Angmar." **

Lelouch said introducing his strongest and deadest servant having been revived back into the world using Shinji Matou as a scarf ice to bring back the dreaded Lord of the Nazgul. Seeking to both serve and protect his master the Witch King soon attacked the old man as he began to stab him with the letter opening while screaming and covering the immobilized head of the Matou family with the Nazgul's poisonous black breath. Despite his best efforts to fight back, Zouken was no match for the fury of the Witch King and his master the Dark Lord holding him in place by cruelly squeezing his life force until it faded completely and Zouken was dead.

To be certain however, every worm was quickly destroyed to ensure his death and they wouldn't cause him any trouble. As the Witch King handled the rest Lelouch made his way back to Sakura's room as he found the frightened girl trembling in fright, but Lelouch's eyes returned to normal as did his voice.

"You don't have a reason to be afraid any more Sakura, Shinji and Zouken are dead. You will suffer no more of their cruelty and humiliation."

Lelouch walked over and freed the girl of her bounds, but instead of running she laid there looking at the man who saved her innocence.

"I'll take care of everything…everyone will think Shinji killed Zouken out of resentment for having been disowned from inheriting the Matou estate and so you will be the head of the Matou Family instead."

Sakura didn't know what to say, but she felt like a huge weight was taken off her shoulders and the thought of no more abuse or humiliations at the cruel hands of her adoptive family was an overwhelming joyful feeling that was building up within her. The kinder part of her felt terrible for how they met their ends, but the rest of her was glad at their demise…it was thanks to the boy before her.

Without thinking she embraced Lelouch in a tight hug and while she held him burying her face into his chest she began weeping. Sakura wasn't sad she was happy that she was free of the pain and suffering she was enduring. Now before her was a protector and someone who had been trying to watch out for her as he had tried to protect his younger sister…Lelouch had her undying gratitude.

* * *

><p>Returning to the present as Lelouch and Sakura were returning to Ashford Academy, but in another corner of Japan specifically on the outskirts of the village of Kariwa located in the Kariwa District of the Niigata Prefecture. On the edge of a large peach tree field was an old processing factory that had been owned and operated by a small Japanese business that existed up until the time Japan was taken over by Britannia, so now a new factory and processing plant had been constructed on the far side of the field while the old processing plant was abandoned.<p>

Inside the walls of the of the old processing plant a large eight-wheel truck hauling a cargo container was pulling back into the old storage and loading dock while standing inside the building watching the truck pull back brining the rear of the cargo container against the loading dock was the Witch King of Angmar in the company of a human.

He was with a twelve year old girl with dark brown hair hanging below the shoulders with dark purple eyes wearing a black cloak with a hood down holding a clipboard in his hands.

Once the truck was parked the young girl knelt down setting her clipboard aside before she unlocked the container before pulling it open where a few crates sat, but also inside were eight black robed figures…the other eight Nazgul.

Now after seven years following their return the eight were reunited with their leader the Lord of the Nazgul, the nine were together once more.

"These are the other eight?" Kokoro Katsura asked.

"Yes…we are finally assembled." The Witch King spoke before turning to the young girl. "The Dark Lord is waiting for the relics."

"I understand…the vans are ready."

"Begin moving the relics my brethren have recovered."

"Of course…you two move those crates into the second van." Kokoro ordered a pair of men wearing black uniforms. They bowed their heads and went to work brining a metal cart to transport the crates on.

"Go on ahead with the second van Kokoro…Khamul and two of the others will accompany you to provide escort for the relics. I will lead the rest of the Nazgul and our men to carry out tonight's operation as planned."

"I see…very well I shall depart then." The girl replied as she left following two men transporting the crates.

* * *

><p>Later that evening at the Ashford Academy Lelouch was seated at the dinner table inside a room on the second floor of the student council clubhouse along with his sister Nunnally and Sakura who was joining the two for dinner tonight as she did every night. The two were enjoying roast beef and mashed potatoes with gravy covering them and a side of carrots.<p>

"Brother…Shirley told me that you and Sakura left the school again? Where did you two go?"

"No where special. Sorry if I worried you."

"Why do you and Sakura-chan keep skipping school?"

"It's because there are some things Sakura and I have to do…besides it's with you in mind." Lelouch replied smoothly while Sakura remained silent although she knew the former prince and reawakened Dark Lord wasn't lying. He was telling the truth, but he just wasn't giving Nunnally the details. He took part in underground chess gambling tournaments to not only obtain money while at the same time depending on his opponents he probed their minds for information.

For example the casino owner he met and challenged today…he probed his mind on his Refrain Drug Operations he conducted in the Tokyo Settlement and found some interesting information he wasted no time passing along to the Witch King. With the eight Nazgul now gathered together in Area 11 and their growing number of human followers they have recruited from scattered resistance groups that have collapsed or were crushed by the Britannian Army.

With all of his power and the Witch King by his side Lelouch or rather Sauron realized there was a limit to how much he would be able to accomplish alone and given how much the world has changed the Dark Lord reasoned that it would be best to focus on accumulating followers and resources so he could have more effective means of operating and building a strong and formidable power base.

Lelouch knew since the ring returned to him and his powers and abilities awoke the young man felt two times stronger than he had ever been in his prime with all of his former life's abilities restored to him including Shapeshifting and such…all of his natural Maiar abilities including those powers and skills he obtained as both a servant of Aule the Smith and a servant of Morgoth especially during his own time as a Dark Lord.

Even so while he felt he could easily accomplish much of all of this power he now wielded, but once again Lelouch restrained himself because if it was one thing he hadn't learned was that pride and ego were among the factors that led to his downfall. In fact having lost his ability to assume a fair shape was lost with Numenor's destruction due to the fact that he had inexcusably miscalculated and failed to consider the possibility of the Valar relinquishing their dominion over the world to Eru.

Furthermore when news had reached him of a Hobbit prisoner being held in Tower of Cirith Ungol he failed to realize that the hobbit Frodo Baggins had successfully smuggled his own ring into the land of Mordor. Sauron at the time should have not only had left the army around Mount Doom where it was, but he could have taken further steps of prevention by having the remaining Nazgul at the time lay in wait inside Mount Doom for the Ring to come to them thus they could have been in the best position to prevent its destruction.

'_I was a fool…and they played me for a fool, but not this time…'_

Sauron now Lelouch Lamperouge in light of his resurrection in his new human form had spent the last seven years reinventing himself in a literal sense constantly rethinking his life and carefully examining every action he made…every mistake. As he thought about it Lelouch realized his ability, or rather habit, to constantly think up hundreds of different possibilities to a situation and problem was likely a response to his failure to consider the worse possibilities and potential dangers.

'_My pride and ego were my weakness, but I will not allow it to be a liability to me this time around.'_

The Dark Lord however was blessed by the situation in Area 11 with constant acts of terrorism and acts of resistance against Britannia by the subjugated Japanese who would loathed the painful years of occupation they had endured. They wanted nothing more than to free their land from Britannian control and win back their independence.

This was a perfect environment for the Dark Lord to rebuild since at the time seven years ago, while he regained all of his powers, he had nothing to call a kingdom, no armies…_nothing_. Sauron was effectively starting all over again from scratch. But given how many eons had passed since his time and he was completely forgotten by human history this worked to his long term advantage giving him a clean slate to work with.

'_Although a few small pockets of those not associated with humans remember me.' _Lelouch thought in the back of his mind.

That was how Sauron or rather Lelouch came up with the general outline for their plan to crush Britannia and reshape the world. Given the inhuman acts and overly aggressive nature of Britannia as a nation it was no big surprise now that every nation in the world didn't loath the giant known as Britannia for one reason or another. This was true with the European Union now engaged in war against Britannia while the second superpower the Chinese Federation was likely very nervous by the fact with Britannia now occupying Japan the rival superpower had a foothold in their backyard.

Thus they were under threat of a possible future invasion of their country by Britannia likely once they crushed the EU. This presented the Dark Lord with a means of uniting the world against Britannia and once the Holy Britannian Empire was no more he would be in a perfect position to unify the entire world under one banner.

His, but he would rule indirectly through the new rings of power he was forging using leaders of his choosing or leaders wearing his rings if need be.

'_Maybe I am getting a little too far ahead of myself?'_

Lelouch thought as he bushed the idea aside for a time since he knew not of how events would unfold once he begins his war against Britannia, but first he would need to liberate Japan before he can begin rallying the other nations together…he would worry about unification then. But how that war would be fought and carried out would depend on the upcoming Holy Grail War and his assessment of the Holy Church and the Magus Association.

Besides Britannia those two organizations were potential threats to his plans another reason why he has been proceeding as slowly and cautiously as he has while amassing resources and manpower to himself while preparing for his coming war with Britannia. At the same time he has made doubly sure to keep a low profile and conceal all of his activities to avoid drawing attention from not only Britannia but these two organizations as well.

Depending on how they _react _to him and how things turn out will determine how he will fight Britannia…would it be through _normal_ means or would he engage them with his full might and power as the Dark Lord. Lelouch knew as the Holy Grail War progresses one or likely both organizations will become aware of him.

Yet he needed more information the Dark Lord needed to know the organization's strength and find any weaknesses he can use to his advantage should the two groups fight against him although the best case scenario for him would be to have one of these organizations support him. He knew there was no chance in hell of the Holy Church backing him up, but the Magus Association might be a different story. But even then the Dark Lord wasn't planning on holding his breath.

The chances of the Magus Association as a whole joining him are still very slim.

'_No matter what if all proceeds well I'll have a few cards to play…'_

But if worst case scenario happens then Lelouch would just simply have to make sure to disable any means for them to attack him while conducting his war with Britannia such as fighting as a normal human without using any of his powers and the Nazgul. However should the two sides push the Dark Lord too hard or force his hand then Lelouch would make sure he would have a thump card to play to counter them accordingly.

All in all it would depend on how the Holy Grail War plays out and he still has some time before the war was expected to begin. It's usually a period of sixty years, but thanks to some events that had occurred during the last war and some light tampering from the Dark Lord himself the war was going to be beginning near the end of this war late in the spring…or even sooner possibly.

There was still time for preparation and the Dark Lord had no intention of wasting time he would be prepared for the Holy Grail War and more by that time.

"Brother?"

"Huh…"

"Lelouch you zoned out…are you ok?"

"Sorry Nunnally I have just been thinking a lot lately."

"Oh I see…I guess you have a big test coming up, but you should eat your food is getting cold." Nunnally spoke with a smile.

"I will…thank you Nunnally."

* * *

><p>Meanwhile across the Tokyo Settlement in the warehouse district near the harbor a dozen men were meeting inside of a warehouse the owner of the Royal Flush Casino was being protected by five men armed with submachine guns while a table separated him and a group of six men on the opposite side. One of them was an older man, bald with a small beard on his chin wearing a blue suit while he had bodyguards made up of five men wearing black suits carrying handguns while one of them carried an assault rifle for heavy firepower.<p>

On the table before them were six briefcases lying open, revealing they were filled with stacks of Britannian Banknotes in stacks of 100 pound notes while sitting at one of the warehouse loading bays was a truck full of a notorious drug called Refrain.

"So is everything in order I delivered the drugs and I get paid right?" The casino owner replied while the smile on the older man's face suggested the deal was a success, but before the two groups could finalize everything a third party picked this time to intervene as the lights in the warehouse was suddenly shut off.

"WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON? TURN ON THOSE LIGHTS?"

For reasons the men couldn't explain they felt the hairs on the back of their necks suddenly rise up while their legs followed by their whole bodies began shaking in fear as the air around them grew cold. As the men tried to navigate their way through the dark warehouse gunfire was heard as two men, one from each group began opening fire on the other.

"WHO IS SHOOTING?"

One of the men screamed, but the sound of someone dying caused the fear the men began feeling reach an all time high, so both sides began opening fire on the other engaging in a deadly gunfire with no one unable to see who they were shooting save for the fact they fired at the flashes from guns discarding bullets.

The deadly shoot out didn't last long…only a few minutes, but after the last of the gun shots died down the lights came back on revealing all twelve men were dead. However two of them were being held by two of the Nine Nazgul who had seized one of the men from behind using him as both a shield and their means to ignite a vicious shoot out between the two groups as they held their puppets while working their arms and hands to shoot their weapons at the other side and even into their own puppets killing them giving them lifeless dolls to work with.

Standing by the fuse box was the Witch King who didn't waste a moment opening another loading dock entrance allowing a Sunny Peaches Company truck to pull up to the second loading dock. The Lord of the Nazgul opened the back of the truck while some of their human followers dressed in black wearing latex gloves hurried out of the truck.

Back inside one of the Nazgul kicked over a barrel full of gasoline while the other made sure the shot he landed on the a large propane tank in the back had been pierced releasing a steady stream into the air. Their human followers hurried to the table stuffing all of the money within the suitcases into duffle bags while another with a white duffle bag began stuffing old useless banknotes into the suitcases.

The Witch King gestured to the men as his fellow Nazgul followed them into the truck with the Lord of the Nazgul being the last to board the transport, but before leaving he snapped his fingers and a small flame appeared atop the pool of gas formed when his fellow Ringwraith kicked over the barrel. The Witch King of Angmar closed the truck before it sped off into the night making a clean get away as a violent fire broke out within the warehouse eventually trigging an explosion thanks to the leaking propane tank providing the ideal cover-up.

Now police investigators would write it off the incident as a drug deal gone wrong.

Thanks to the Nazgul's natural ability to strike fear into the hearts of those near them and the Witch King's own evil magic they frightened the men into attacking one another while the other two Nazgul worked a gunman to trigger the shoot out. This was similar to how the Witch King and his human followers had been conducting themselves over the years they would steal drug money, weapons and whatever supplies they wanted and cover up the theft in the best ways possible.

The shadow had begun to grow once again and the time of the Dark Lord was approaching.

* * *

><p>AN: And so after seven years the Dark Lord is (learning from his previous mistakes and falls especially) building up his power base by using the Lord of the Nazgul to lead a slowly growing resistance movement on his behalf, but now that the other eight have united with their leader you can expect them to be more active in the coming chapters. Working to dial in how strong and what abilities they should possess now that their master has the One Ring again which according to some lore makes the Nazgul themselves stronger than they were during the War of the Ring. As for Sakura I had originally wanted to do a buildup of their relationship during childhood and even include what began the legendary rivalry between Rin and Lelouch, but Lelouch is more of a surrogate older brother to Sakura while Rin outright bloody hates him for ending up with such a long losing streak. But I wasn't able to produce enough to create chapters so I ended up skipping ahead quite a bit.

Also the Witch King of Angmar will be a master in the Holy Grail War as well as Sakura naturally, but as for Shinji I felt the prick had to die in the worse way possible while Zouken I tried to give him a chance to fight back, but against a reborn Dark Lord and the Lord of the Nazgul…especially since they managed to surprise him didn't have much of a chance to defeat them.

Updated: 02/16/2012 = for my short story mini series related to the story.

Anyway thanks for the reviews and I'll post the next chapter in a little bit. I have it ready, but I want to collect some feedback on the chapter before I proceed. So I'll wait maybe a week or so depending.


	3. Chapter 3 Minor Issues

A/N: Whew ok so far so good then and thanks for the reviews they help me a lot. I confess I have been nervous so far on the feedback and even more so with this chapter as Gandalf appears again, so I am hopeful I got his character right. The more feedback the better and we get some inside thought into Dark Lord Lelouch's mental on women and love lol.

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter 3<strong>

**Minor Issues**

Later that evening deep below the Ashford Academy inside an old railway station abandoned many years ago long before Japan became Area 11, but over the past few years the old underground station had been converted into a hidden sanctuary befitting the Dark Lord. Inside a large circular room with a black throne Lelouch sat upon it grabbed in the form of Mordor's Dark Lord dressed in his old plate armor minus his helmet looking down at Kokoro who was in the company of Khamul and the other Ringwraiths after they had successfully transported the relics they had brought with them after crossing the sea to Japan.

"Excellent work Kokoro, all of you have done well tonight."

Lelouch spoke as he stood up from his throne as his imposing armored form overshadowed the girl which was intimidating to some, but Kokoro found the man to be cool especially when he was dressed in a suit of seemingly overlapping plate armor and dark chain mail worn underneath.

With long pointed spikes upon his pauldrons and a helmet appearing to be that of a skull with a crown of razor sharp blades and serrated blades overlapping one another while five layers of dark antique gold lame on the outside, black on the inside cloth attached to the under arms and the back the Dark Lord formed his cape.

The helmet sat on the arm rest of his throne at the moment.

Standing besides his dark throne was a certain young woman wearing black robes and a simple metal mask holding an ebony cane with a red gem stone on top. She appeared to be a Ringwraith like the Witch King, but in truth it was Sakura wearing black gloves and a mask to hide her identity as the Dark Lord's herald and by extension his right hand woman as well as student.

Using his pointed sharp gantlet fingers the Dark Lord pried open the crates revealing their contents. Inside one crate was a pair of small black spheres, both of them was perfectly shaped. Lelouch remembered them as he picked up one of them with his hand. In his hand was a palantir, one of two seeing stones he now had in his possession, but in the other crate was something he had known about...yet seeing it now left an impression upon him.

He carefully picked up the weapon with his hands amazed by how it seemed to have endured so many centuries, but even now its blade shinned brightly and its' sharpness remained. There were some signs of wear and dust upon it, yet despite it all the weapon was in pristine condition. In his hands he held the weapon that had been once Narsil, the same blade that had been broken which had cut the ring from his finger, and then re-forged into Anduril which took part in the conflict that brought about his end.

'_It's truly ironic…'_

Knowing that there wasn't going to be much to recover from the ruins of his tower he had directed his Ringwraiths instead of the likely site where the ruins of the city Minas Tirith where there was a higher chance of potentially valuable relics and items he could use, but before that he did order his servants to search for the remains of a private workshop he had within Mount Doom.

He knew it would be long since destroyed, but he had hope the object he sought would have likely survived since it was originally found in the deepest and most dangerous regions of the Earth. The metal was extremely rare, rarer than even Mithril, and exceedingly difficult to acquire. But its value and special properties made it worth all of the trouble to acquire it and to recover it.

The rare and very potent Elementium ore said to only exist in deepest and most innermost regions of the Earth which had been a result of his former master the Dark Lord Morgoth channeling his vast powers into Arda as well as his fellow Valar using their powers to shape the world. Elementium ore absorbed some of these energies and became focal points for elemental powers as a result not to mention because of depth and location where it could only be found allowed for it to be forged into a metal that could be far stronger and durable than Mithril.

Originally during his slow return to power during the early years of the third age the Dark Lord had convinced an idea for a powerful weapon. Where the One Ring would be his power to dominate and rule this weapon would be the ultimate weapon of destruction that would smite all of his enemies easily. Sauron spent years thinking and devising the weapon and as he regained more of his power he made many attempts to forge such a weapon, but all of his attempts ended up being nothing more than a long and taxing process of trial and error.

He had some success with the finding of Elementium, but he had the ore in such little amounts he dare not use it all up saving a small amount he retained for the final production model. But as he spent more time building up his armies and searching for the ring he abandoned his project. Now that he had his ring and a weapon that was a perfect model to create this ultimate weapon that only he who wields the One Ring could wield…it would no longer be a formless idea.

He now had both the re-forged Narsil and what remained of the rare Elementium ore his servants had recovered, but fate had also given him some additional ingredients that the Dark Lord realized would be quite potent in the weapon's creation. After he had dispatched of Zouken, Lelouch found that he had gathered the tainted fragments of the shattered grail from the last war, hybridizing the collected black ichor with several of his worm familiars before implanting them into Sakura.

Although over the years Lelouch managed to undo some of the damage and tampering done to the young woman, but in his private lab the Dark Lord had found left over samples of the tainted grail that Zouken had likely been keeping for further study or likely future use in a twisted plan of his. With the fragments the Dark Lord had the base materials he would need to begin the weapon's creation, but he would need additional _ingredients _down the road to complete it.

"This is perfect, but I'll need to begin preparations the Holy Grail war is almost upon us."

"Yes Lelouch-kun, but what about my sister how is she doing?"

"She is doing well…Kotonoha reported that establishment of our new base has gone well and she'll be returning to Tokyo soon."

The Dark Lord spoke after laying the sword atop of the crate. Kokoro Katsura was quite the helper despite her age, but her older sister and she came on aboard about almost two years ago after an unfortunate chain of events left them without parents. Lelouch saved them and using magic and some manipulation had them brought into the Matou Family as distant relatives legally and to provide an official cover story while as far as people were concerned Kotonoha and Kokoro Katsura were dead.

Sakura liked the idea of having sister as she and Kokoro got along very well. But furthermore the two had proven to be very adept in the ancient arts that Lelouch had taught them.

"In fact I think your sister should be communicating with me soon so why don't you collect her report so you two can chat."

"Thank you very much…"

"Just remember to use the secured channels."

"I will…" Kokoro replied happily before she hurried off while the Ringwraiths, with their master done with them left.

Sakura alone remained in the room with Lelouch, but once he was certain Khamul and the other Nazgul had left his private sanctum the Dark Lord went to his throne to sit down.

His eyes glowed bright yellow as he turned to the young girl who removed her mask.

"What happens next, Lelouch-sama?"

"I'll begin remaking this sword into the base for my new weapon, but tomorrow I'll be heading out of town to Misaki to deal with that real estate meeting. Apparently a noble wants to negotiate buying a plot of land owned by Zouken, so I'll head down there and take care of it."

Lelouch said referring to himself. Ever since Zouken Matou and his grandson Shinji disappeared under mysterious circumstances Lelouch was legally named the caretaker of the Matou estate on behalf of Sakura who due to her Japanese heritage through the Tohsaka Family, from which she had originally came from before being adopted by the Matou family, would have not guaranteed claim over the Matou Family's holdings.

Zouken was able to easily, but Sakura was a different story especially given how young she was which had almost resulted in her losing the estate as other members of nobility and wealthy Britannian families tried to seize the estate using her status as an adopted child and age to their advantage. But thanks to Lelouch's intervention and the Ashford Family the former prince was legally made caretaker of the Matou Family estate while Sakura claimed ownership. Thus usually whenever anyone had business to conduct with the Matou Family they would deal with Lelouch first before meeting Sakura to conduct any business further, unless otherwise depending on the situation.

"What about school?"

"I have made the proper arrangements, but I want you to take care of things while I am gone."

"I understand, but what about Kokoro?"

"She'll be heading south to take care of a supply purchase through our black-market connections. If all goes well we might have some allies for the coming war against Britannia, but if not I'll devise a way to deal with them…or…" Lelouch said as he stopped for a moment to toy with a thought inside his mind while a smile appeared on his face, "make them useful to me in another way that will ultimately aid my efforts."

Sakura nodded her head, but after she left Lelouch took the sword along with the crate containing the Elementium Ore and took them to his workshop where he could beginning construction of his weapon. Since he didn't need sleep he worked long into the night re-forging the mighty sword that had played a role in his downfall as Lelouch stood shirtless over an avail using a large hammer to reshape the blade after re-forging it using the Elementium Ore. As he worked while integrating the ingredients as well as soaking the red-hot blade into a black ichor of the grail fragments his mind was wandering as his thoughts were upon Sakura.

He knew since that day she has admired him considering the Dark Lord a hero who saved her from a life of humiliation and pain she had endured at the hands of the Matou Family, but yet he sensed thoughts boarding on more than sibling love. The thought of it brought a smile to his face as made him think of the subject.

'_Love…a foolish, but yet a strangely powerful sentiment.'_

Although many including his former master regarded Love as a very foolish and pointless emotion Sauron himself had observed, while foolish, he saw that love was so powerful in such ways that any affected by it become blind to all reason and would suffer terribly at the loss of love. Men would sometimes become desperate attempting many foolish and ultimately vain attempts to regain lost love, some in that light would change completely in unexpected ways.

Perhaps the most radical example of how powerful and yet how it affected both elves and men alike was the first elfish woman to best him in combat.

He remembered…so many years ago when he had gone into hiding to avoid his master's wraith, but word reached him of what had become of both Luthien Tinuviel the beloved daughter of Elu Thingol, King of Doriath, and his Queen, Melian the Maia and her husband Beren Erchamion, a member of the royal House of Beor of Dorthonion…a mere human being.

Sauron could hardly believe it.

He couldn't comprehend why an elf such as Luthien would give up her immortality to be with a mere mortal man. Sauron at one time kept thinking about the question constantly, so much so that he had wanted to demand an explanation from Luthien, but he never had the chance as Luthien died a year before her husband Beren died. The question kept eating away at his mind as the very idea seemed impossible to comprehend.

He never understood it fully.

At least that's what the Dark Lord told himself, but he did confess if used properly he could manipulate a person easily as he had done on occasion. Yet there was no doubt since he regained his memories of his past self, his human heart, and the love he possesses for Nunnally has made itself known. Was it hindering him or perhaps was it an ideal means of restraining himself to avoid making any mistakes.

Unable to come to a proper answer the Dark Lord focused himself on the task before him.

* * *

><p>The following morning Lelouch was sitting in history class taking a break following pop quiz they had been given. He was re-organizing his school bag of the supplies and the books he carried inside of it when Rin approached his desk.<p>

"Are you eager to lose again?" Lelouch asked playfully knowing Rin was standing behind him without even looking.

Fighting off the urge to hit him in the back of the head Rin forced a smile and friendly voice as she replied.

"No…Milly wanted me to remind you about this afternoon's student council meeting."

"Oh that, I guess Milly didn't hear that I am leaving town this afternoon I have a important matter I must address on behalf of the Matou Family."

"What? You're skipping another meeting?"

"Unlike some people I have matters of importance to attend to."

A vein on the girl's forehead was on the verge of bursting as Rin's anger was reaching its boiling point as she felt the growing need to bash Lelouch's head in. Part of her anger was due greatly to their recent poker game. For once she was close to beating him, but of course Lelouch triumphed in the end cleaning out Rin's wallet.

But her pride had been wounded so many times…ever since that first time when they met as children four years ago Lelouch had been challenged to a game of dodge ball. Although Nunnally feared her brother would lose, but in a stunning upset victory the assumingly frail boy grabbed the ball and nailed Rin in the stomach knocking the wind out of her.

Since that day Rin has faced a long humiliating losing streak to Lelouch and being the competitive type that she was, not to mention the fact she couldn't stand the bastard, she has been determined to win against Lelouch in any game she can find to beat him in. The Poker Game they had recently had not only left her pride, as well as her wallet, worse for wear once again, but this time her dignity was crushed utterly.

'_How could I have been so stupid?' _

Rin remembered after she challenged Lelouch to another game she raised the stakes in order to challenge him once again and hopefully win back her money, but she suffered the worse humiliation possible. She had challenged him to a game of strip poker. To be fair Lelouch had ill advised against it giving her losing streak especially, but Rin wanted to win and having come so close she was sure the young Magus could win.

She was very wrong.

In his chair Lelouch knew the young woman was still upset over their recent poker game, but as far as he was concerned it was her fault. He had given her plenty of opportunities to back out and after each loss and a piece of clothing came off he kept offering trying to get Rin to stop. Mostly because she had nothing worth winning from her, but also Lelouch didn't want Nunnally walking in on them with Sayoko worried they might get the wrong idea.

Besides…

'_There wasn't really much to see.' _

Lelouch thought while he didn't particularly care about what Rin looked like naked; besides there were other women in the school who were more...alluring…to the eyes than her. Although there is no doubt that she is cute...in a way, but Lelouch enjoyed beating her in games and seeing her flushed angry face more than anything else because it gave the Dark Lord a good source of amusement.

"Do you have anything else?" Lelouch asked as he looked up at the girl who was trying to keep a straight face.

"No…that's it." Rin said as she stormed off, but as she walked away Lelouch grinned looking forward to their next match since he was close to a seven hundred victory streak against her. Once she was gone Rivalz approached and joined Lelouch in a chair next to him.

"Wow I think Rin was angrier at you than usual, which means you probably beat her pretty bad in your last game with her."

Rivalz was smiling completely unaware of what had actually transpired.

"You have no idea." Lelouch replied smoothly.

"Do you think she has a thing for you?"

"I seriously doubt that…if anything I think she would love to kill me more than to actually love me." Lelouch answered while he laughed for a moment because not only was it funny, but it was true too.

"They say opposites attract."

"That may be so for some couples, but I highly doubt it for this one."

"Heh, so anyone catch your eye then?" Rivalz inquired while the former prince raised an eyebrow.

"What do you mean exactly?"

"Do you have you know? You know a thing for a girl?"

"I can't say that I do right now?"

"Seriously?"

"I am serious…" Lelouch replied while there weren't any members of the opposite sex that attracted his attention save for one no one knew of, but he knew who Rivalz was likely asking this line of questions in regards to Shirley, a fellow member on the student council, but originally she was someone who didn't get along with Lelouch during the early months of their freshmen year.

But after observing that time where he attached a tow cable to the back of a man's car that had rear-ended another car belonging to an elderly couple. Although the driver of the other car was obviously at fault, but he tried to blame it on the elderly couple…so Lelouch calmly walked up, attached the cable and returned to the side car of Rivalz's bike pretending like nothing had ever happened. Since that time Shirley had become interested in learning more about him while somewhat aware of the growing affection for the former prince.

'_Would her feelings remain the same if she knew the full truth about me?' _

Lelouch thought knowing that if Shirley ever discovered the truth he seriously doubt that she would love him and she likely wouldn't since the Lelouch Lamperouge she and everyone else knew save for a small few was a lie.

Besides Shirley there was the Student Council President and granddaughter of the Ashford Academy's headmaster as well as the former head of the Ashford Family. Among the women here in the Ashford Academy Milly Ashford was certainly unique in her own way given her personality, but the Dark Lord wondered if she was either a sadist or a masochist.

Given her seemingly unpredictable personality and drive to throw weird and embarrassing parties or events which would have likely turned a lot of heads during his day back in the First, Second and Third ages, but even then Lelouch couldn't decide although he began to wonder if she was something of a combination between a sadist or a masochist, but sometimes his mind leaned towards considering her a masochist at times.

Matters of personality aside Milly was strikingly beautiful and very well developed…had she been born an elf she might have had a chance, if not a slim one, at surpassing Luthien as the most beautiful and fairest of the elves.

'_I suppose if I had to chose one I would be more inclined to date Milly only because I am curious to see how much better I would be compared to all of her other failed suitors.'_

Lelouch thought as he knew perfectly well that the Ashford Family, specifically Milly's mother and father, had been trying to marry their daughter off to a powerful noble of the Empire to restore their status after their fall from grace following his mother's death which left them striped of their nobility. Thus far however Milly has managed to keep her _freedom_ which was impressive compared to how nobility treated their daughters back in the old days, but these days didn't see much better.

But Lelouch didn't mention that to Rivalz since he knew of her long standing crush to the busty blonde, but Milly was unfortunately far more interested in him than Rivalz?

Yet unlike Shirley she was aware of his status as a former royal of the Britannian Royal Family, but like Nunnally she didn't know he was the reborn Dark Lord Sauron as well nor was she aware of the fact he was subtly influencing her parents' thoughts and actions using his own natural powers of persuasion and the One Ring to hold sway over their minds.

He was careful not to overdo it, but he also done so trying to assist Milly by trying to hold off the ultimately inevitable marriage that could happen sometime down the line. Lelouch had done so mostly in part as a form of thanks for the assistance she has rendered him and his sister.

Now there was Nina the only other female on the student council.

Lelouch didn't have much to say about her…she was shy, quiet and polite similar to Sakura, but she wasn't quite a beautiful when compared to women such as Milly and Shirley…however she was cute in her own right to be fair. The young girl was alright as far as the Dark Lord was concerned with…he didn't have anything against her nor did he think of anything he could really praise her for except she was a good person to have scientific discussions with and his knowledge of scientific knowledge of substances impressed her.

Then finally the rest of the women in the academy…he knew at least over half of them had the hots for Lelouch for various, but obvious reasons such as his good looks, brains, and such. Besides Milly he wasn't that interested in them, but if he really wanted to it could be easy for him to use his powers and influence to seduce them without any effort.

'_Almost reminds me of the popularity among a lot of the women of Numenor I had gained.'_

Lelouch thought remembering he had a similar female following during the days he had spent as a hostage in Numenor, but in a short time of two years he went from prisoner to royal adviser to the King. He was actually more or less by then the power behind the throne controlling its proud and greedy tyrannical King Ar-Pharazon like a puppet.

'_But it would be too easy so it's not worth my time.'_

The Dark Lord did at some times considered it to test his influence and regained powers, but ultimately decided not to since he didn't want to risk getting anyone pregnant, although he could prevent it, it just wasn't worth it. Besides the Dark Lord reasoned that if he could easily seduce a woman then what are they to him…he found that those who were _challenging_ has unexpectedly somehow hold more appeal to him.

But Lelouch was interrupted from his thoughts as speak of the devil, Milly Ashford, arrived in the classroom moments later with every male unsurprisingly turning their heads to look at her beautiful figure.

"Well so Rin tells me you will be skipping out on another student council meeting?"

"It can't be helped…I have a matter in relation to the Matou Family to attend to since I am the primary caretaker of the estate and Sakura as you know is the owner." Lelouch explained calmly.

"That again…geez and here I was hoping I could get you to take part in our cross-dressing festival?"

'_In that case I am very glad for my business that will take me out of town.' _

Lelouch thought while he was damn sure the last thing he'll allow happen is he, the Dark Lord, would be put into a dress. His business with the noble family he would have to deal with was a blessing in disguise for him. Fate clearly loved him this day since Lelouch had the perfect excuse to skip out on the festival, but he would have to be wary of Milly since she is likely to pull something on him for not coming.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon Lelouch made his to Misaki by means of taking the Tokaido Shinkansen from the Tokyo Station to Misaki Train Station via a high-speed rail train. As Lelouch departed the training after grabbing his suitcase he saw that the sun was already setting by the time he had arrived in town. Waiting outside the station a man in a black suit wearing sunglasses was waiting for him holding a sign with his name on it.<p>

"Sorry I am late." Lelouch said politely as he approached as he introduced himself. For this trip he donned a black business suit with a red tie. Not his personal choice of style, but for meetings such as these a little bit of acting and dressing up never hurts.

"Actually sir you are ahead of Lord Stadtfeld…he was delayed due to a personal problem, but he should be arriving in Misaki within the next half-hour."

"I see, well I suppose it can't be helped, these things happen."

"Quite true sir, but he did call ahead and asked me to make sure I was here to receive you at the station. We'll be meeting at the Hotel Century where the negotiations will be conducted."

"I understand…" Lelouch replied as the man opened the rear passenger door of the black car allowing the student to enter the vehicle before the driver drove across town to the inn. As the sun was beginning to disappear below the horizon the black car pulled up to a place called Hotel Century which was a ten story building with a rather simple appearance nothing too fancy or not worthy to speak about it.

The driver and servant of the Stadtfeld family led Lelouch inside the building leading him to a conference room on the third floor of the ten story inn where two more men in black suits stood guard. Inside the former prince saw a large round table with five chairs surrounding it while the rest of the large room was surprisingly vacant.

Taking a seat the young man placed his suitcase under his chair, but not before opening it up to draw out some papers from a black leather folder he was carrying. The Dark Lord waited patiently while he was in deep in thought wondering how this deal would go, but he knew if need be he could always work his influence upon Lord Stadtfeld's mind. On the other hand he was curious to what was delaying him, but Lelouch recognized a number of things could be responsible so it was difficult to guess without additional information.

Finally after what seemed like forever the doors opened and a man in his late thirties with short cut red hair with green eyes walked in wearing a dark brown suit with a blue tie, but following behind him was a young girl around Lelouch's age with short red hair cut just below her chin possessing blue eyes and a striking figure which was obvious by the light pink sleeveless dress she was wearing with a white collar and a blue bow-ribbon she wore on it.

Following them was a middle-aged man wearing a tan-colored suit with a blue tie holding a suitcase with short black hair, glasses upon his face and a stern expression.

'_Likely his lawyer…' _

Lelouch thought suspecting the third man's identity right off of the bat, but the young woman was an even easier one to figure out.

'_She looks a little similar to Lord Stadtfeld so I am going to guess daughter.'_

As the three took their seats across from Lelouch the red haired man obvious Lord Stadtfeld addressed the young man.

"You must be Lelouch Lamperouge it's a pleasure to finally meet you."

"Likewise Lord Stadtfeld…" Lelouch replied with an altruistic tone in his voice as the red haired man began introducing the others seated beside him.

"This is my daughter Kallen and this is my attorney Mr. Andrew Zekk."

"A pleasure…" Lelouch said greeting the two with a nod while the attorney was stoned faced and professional the beautiful daughter Kallen Stadtfeld seemed bored and disinterested with all that was happening, but on the other hand it seemed she wasn't in the best state of health either. At that time the Dark Lord began probing their minds beginning with Lord Stadtfeld.

'_I see the land they wish to purchase is old fields outside of town, five hundred acres worth, but no one knows that underneath is a hidden vein of Sakuradite worth a very good penny. Could they have discovered this?' _

Lelouch thought, but as he probed deeper he confirmed his suspicions. It was the Sakuradite buried under the land Lord Stadtfeld was interested in.

'_I am not surprised, but perhaps I can make this work for both of us…mostly me through.'_

"The item in question my client is wishing to purchase is the land specifically marked on this map I believe you are familiar with it."

"Indeed, but I know a little more about it than you think?"

"How so?" Lord Stadtfeld inquired.

"No one else has taken an interest in this land, so I wonder…are you aware of the veins of Sakuradite buried upon it?"

This revelation surprised all of three them, but his smile didn't fade as Lelouch continued.

"I couldn't think of any other reason one as prestigious and wealthy as you would take interest in an empty spot of land outside of town, so knowing what is buried under that spot of land I deduced your likely interest for the land."

"Then you have known about the true value of the land for some time then?"

"Yes and I can also guess you wanted this business to be conducted way out here to ensure you could speak to me first since I ultimately hold any legal say on the Matou Family's estate and land they own."

Lord Stadtfeld and his lawyer were both shocked while at the same time impressed by how astute the young man was. But realizing now he would need to really negotiate a better deal now he began contemplating a suitable offer and one in which he could benefit from. Lelouch not even needing to read his mind at this point knew what the nobleman was going to try.

"In that case I would like to generously purchase the land so we can begin mining the Sakuradite. After all I doubt the land would be useable since you need considerable resources and manpower to mine it."

"That's true, but I won't give up such promising real estate so easily just the same knowing the land's value." Lelouch said as Kallen sighed convinced that this could take awhile.

* * *

><p>Within the realm of realm of Valinor, more specifically located on the continuant of Aman at a small harbor with the island of Tol Eressea in the distance, but it was at this small harbor that an elf ship was being prepared to make sail. Standing on the dock next to the ship was Olorin, but no longer was he in his Maiar form, because for this journey he once more assumed his guise of his human form. Once more he had become Gandalf the White carrying his staff and his sword Glamdring.<p>

On the dock with him was Eonwe, the herald of the Valar Manwe along with one other who had volunteered to accompany Gandalf as his bodyguard of shorts given special permission to accompany him. He looked as he did many centuries ago during the third age and the following years, but now dressed in his familiar traveling and combat grab with a full quiver of arrows on his back and his specially made longbow and twin elvish long knives.

Legolas was ready to journey with his old friend back to Middle-Earth to investigate the possible return of Sauron since the Valar feared that if the three Elven rings of power have regained their powers then it could only mean that somehow the One Ring had returned to existence, which by extension meant that Sauron had returned.

Despite the very idea of the Dark Lord who was supposed to have been crippled for all time returning was impossible, but nevertheless over the past twenty years something unusual has been happening. The most disturbing was the fact that the creator Eru had fallen silent as if he had fallen into a deep sleep that none of the Valar have been able to awaken.

Now the possibility of Sauron returning heightened their worries and fears. They doubted he was responsible, but yet in the way he has seemingly reappeared might give them clues as to what is happening with Eru. Gandalf's task was to investigate what was happening in Middle-Earth and determine what is causing Eru's silence. They hoped by investigating Sauron they could find the one who would possibility be responsible for the Dark Lord's return and the strange sleep that has befallen the creator.

"Inform Manwe we'll send word back if we discover anything." Gandalf said as the herald had handed him a special crystal vial containing extraordinary water for communication spell so the wizard could communicate with Manwe if he had found any vital information concerning the creator's state and the identity or the power behind the maker's slumber.

"I shall…good luck to both of you."

"Thank you my friend…" Gandalf said as he and Legolas boarded the ship as their captain was ready to make sail.

As the small ship departed the harbor heading for Middle-Earth, or simple called Earth these days by the men who have inherited the world, Gandalf and Legolas watched Amen and by extension the rest of the Undying Lands vanish from view as the ship gradually sailed further and further away. The master elf archer and prince stood besides his old friend asking.

"How much do you think Earth has changed?"

"Quite a lot actually…it's nothing like how it was when we left."

"Will we be fine then?"

"Don't worry I came properly prepared. I have some spells of illusion that will mask our true appearances from all eyes and make us appear as humble men in clothing similar to theirs."

"Then I wonder what we'll look like?"

"Just wait and see…" Gandalf replied with a grin.

"Where exactly are we heading, I doubt it's to Gondor?"

"No we're heading to a small island nation that was conquered years ago by one of the world's strongest, but most aggressive and tyrannical empires. The country in question was called Japan, but the Holy Britannian Empire has renamed it Area 11 and its inhabitants have been suffering for seven years under brutal occupation."

"I see…anything else…do we know for sure Sauron has returned?"

"If power has returned to the three elf rings of power then there is no mistake. If the One Ring has returned then its maker must have also returned."

"So if we find Sauron…then we can find out what power was responsible for his return including the One Ring's?"

"Yes, but how they returned is what worries me." Gandalf began while he thought at the same time.

'_Yet there is only one power that could be responsible, but if so…why?' _

The white wizard gave the subject a considerable amount of thought, but he was interrupted when a voice behind them spoke.

"He is different…he is trying hard to mask his presence, but yet while it feels familiar there is a change. Something is indeed different."

Both Legolas and Gandalf turned to find a familiar hooded woman wearing gray robes while underneath she wore a midnight black dress while her pale face and hands remained visible, but despite her appearance the wizard knew who she was. One of those hands held the ring Gandalf had removed in haste seven years ago when he first felt power return to the rings, the Ring of Fire

"Lady Nienna why are you here?" Legolas asked shocked that one of the Queens of the Valar was coming along.

"I have decided to accompany you…"

"Does Manwe know about this?"

"He does not, but I shall insist on accompanying both of you."

"Then as your pupil and friend may I inquire why?" Gandalf said obviously concerned for his mentor who taught him pity and patience.

"There is something different about Sauron I wish to confirm. From what I am feeling he has hate, but its source is different than before…it stems from sorrow instead from mere power lust."

"How can you be sure?" Legolas asked.

"That is how he is veiling his presence to the elf rings and their bearers…instead of hate and malice he uses sorrow within himself as a mask." Nienna replied who was curious as to what changes Sauron had endured for a Dark Lord to possess enough sorrow to use it as an effective mask.

Gandalf wanted Nienna to reconsider, but her words piqued his curiosity as well…yet it only reinforced the fact that the trio had no idea what to expect when they arrive in Japan.

* * *

><p>Late into the evening back at Hotel Century in Misaki the negotiations between Lord Stadtfeld and Lelouch were still going on just as Kallen had expected it would since the two sides had been trying to outdo the other and acquire the land her father so covertly desired to at a cheap price, but each offer presented to Lelouch was rejected because the Dark Lord knew it was a joke to offer him so little for land with such high value.<p>

However the Dark Lord after combing the noble's mind devised an adequate compromise.

"How about this Lord Stadtfeld? I will lease the land to you in exchange for a small percentage of profits earned from the mines and I'll ask for rent for the land cheap as a result." Lelouch offered knowing one of the noble's concerns was paying for the licenses and ultimately setting up a mining facility and hiring workers, so in a way while Lelouch would benefit from a flow of income from the mines this would also mean the red-haired noble won't have to pay as much to set up the mine.

All in all it was a good deal and both parties would benefit. After whispering and discussing the matter with his lawyer the noble smiled before laughing.

"Lelouch Lamperouge you know how to both negotiate and drive a hard bargain…not bad for one as young as you."

"Thank you, so you'll accept?"

"Yes this is the best offer and I can afford more money to establishing mining operations there."

"Excellent, then I will inform Miss Matou and discuss things with her to finalize it." Lelouch said, but at the same time he thought when a legal copy of the contract was drawn up he had made to make sure it would be treated like a proper lease with a minor change to it. If he was to ever shut down mines and end his lease there would be a clause hidden in the fine print that would state he would have to restore the land to its original state otherwise he would have to pay damage charges and other fees including restoration of the land to its natural state.

If anything this gave the Dark Lord a golden opportunity to sue him if he ended his lease and pulled out suddenly if business doesn't go well. The two shook hands on it and the deal was at last sealed between the two while Kallen laid back in her chair thankfully glad it was finally over.

A short time later after making arrangements for a more official contract to be drawn up Lelouch went out onto the balcony to enjoy a breath of fresh air. The first he had in the four hours since he had been in that meeting and he was somewhat surprised by what time it was. It was close to eleven o'clock at night…it was amazing at how fast time flies.

"Lelouch wasn't it? Do you have a minute?"

"Miss Stadtfeld…yes of course." Lelouch replied looking over his shoulder seeing the beautiful redhead standing a few feet behind him. "Is there something I can help you with?"

"Not really, but I am curious?"

"Oh…"

"How did you do it? How did you convince my father to agree to such a deal? Getting him to agree to anything these days that isn't what he wants is an accomplishment upon itself."

"It wasn't easy, but I have my ways. I am just very good at _reading_ people and I am gifted with what you can call the silver tongue too." The Dark Lord replied with a grin while he didn't lie in this case, his words were true, but he left out some details.

Even without the One Ring, Sauron's most dangerous weapons were his silver tongue and ability to manipulate people.

"I see, so why are you involved with a Japanese-Family-turned-Britannian-Noble-Family the Matou Family?"

"I would say there are many reasons, but the fact is the Matou Family sheltered me and my sister when the war began here seven years ago."

"Huh…WAIT you were here seven years ago when the war began?" Kallen asked as her mask as a frail sickly girl fell for a brief moment. She was surprised to be sure since she didn't think anyone from Britannia had been living in Japan due mostly to the tensions between the two countries at the time.

"That's right and it was thanks to them me and my sister survived and the ensuring changes Japan underwent when Britannia took over."

"So is that why you are helping the Matou Family then?"

"Yes and when the Ashford Family became close friends assisting one another things improved and to avoid any legal bullshit and attempts by the nobles to claim all of the Matou Family's holdings I was appointed guardianship and joint custody of the Matou Estate so Sakura wouldn't lose everything."

"That must be quite the burden."

"Not really and I enjoy the job more than school anyway, so it's more of a part-time job to me in a sense. Besides I enjoy handing the business and negotiations for the Matou Family."

"So how do you pull off negotiations like that…it can't be just because you can read people better?"

"I think then the other part is that you have to be unassuming?"

"Unassuming?"

"Yes…let people underestimate you and then surprise them. In fact a good lesson people can learn is that people shouldn't underestimate anyone regardless if they are a leaper, a cripple or a very small midget. If you assume someone as incapable or weak you could be making a huge mistake never knowing they could be pretending to have such weaknesses to lure you into a false sense of security. After all take me for example…" Lelouch said as he held his arms out wide while turning around to face Kallen.

"Huh…"

"Would you believe me to be a Master of the Universe?"

The red-haired girl couldn't help, but laugh before she added. "No I wouldn't…"

"That's the whole point…don't ever let them see you coming." Lelouch added as Kallen didn't realize she was underestimating Lelouch right now because he was the Dark Lord of Mordor reborn in human flesh. They spent a short time more talking while Lord Stadtfeld quietly watched from the doorway with a small smile on his face.

* * *

><p>AN: And there you have it, Lelouch is the legal custodian of the Matou Estate while Sakura is the owner, which was necessary since as mentioned there were members of the bigoted upper class of Area 11 who had tried to seize the Matou Estate following Zouken and Shinji's deaths. I also decided this was a good time for Kallen to get a cameo in the story…she has a role later on during the Holy Grail War.

Now for answers to questions: I confess the part about Sakura wearing a short skirt while borrowing Rivalz motorbike was a minor, but another major oversight on my part…of course her driving might have been at her own insistence since Sakura adores Lelouch and with the grail war coming she intends to help him in every possible way.

For that she has been schooled in the black arts and magic by the Dark Lord himself. So Sakura will be active and a force to be reckoned with.

Trust me the idea to pair her with Lelouch is tempting upon itself just as so was the idea to possibly do a Medusa/Lelouch pairing instead lol.

Sayoko works for the Ashfords as she did in the canon, but one difference she is another of the few who knows Lelouch is the Dark Lord and actively protects Nunnally on his behalf. As for Aragorn's line I have someone else in mind to be his descendant and the choice may not surprise you depending, but I have something very special planned for it. Now for the weapon Lelouch is making using Aragorn's own sword as base…could it be the real thing, but either way it will be forged into a powerful weapon wielded by the Dark Lord to be on par with Ea and Excalibur wielded by the Lord of the Rings alone.

Its creation does make references to Warcraft, but I figured what the hell…for a duel between the proclaimed Lord of the Earth and King of Heroes that will come later he'll need it. Saber will also have a special duel as well…against the empowered Witch King of Angmar. That also reminds me for pairings, everyone else hasn't been decided yet so feel free to pitch some ideas, but on my profile I am leaving up a poll to decide whom I should pair a certain King of Heroes with much later in the story lol.

Updated: 02/16/2012 for my short story

Anyway thank you and please drop a review and I'll post the next chapter one week from Tuesday.


	4. Chapter 4 The Coming War

A/N: A week has passed and the winner of the poll is Milly! So it will mean much later in the story we'll have ourselves a Gilgamesh and Milly pairing later on. Anyway in this chapter we have two experimental battle moments I wrote in to kinda test how writing in character's certain abilities worked and I have kept them short as a just in case should I need to revise it, but you'll see those experimental battle scenes as you proceed through the chapter.

But thank you all for the reviews so far and the feedback and I know pulling off this crossover will be a daunting task given the context of the worlds I must mix in together, but I'll do what I can. Please enjoy the chapter.

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

The Coming War

A week later along the coast of Japan, more specifically at a small secluded beach area near Beppu within the Kyushu Providence of Japan on the southern end of the conquered island nation, Gandalf, Legolas and Nienna had arrived as their Elven ship had arrived and brought them safely to shore. The ship soon unruffled its sails and began sailing back to the Undying Lands since staying would be unwise and dangerous for the Elven crew of the ship.

As the three walked across the sandy beach the three began planning on their course of action.

"We'll make our way to the capital and begin gathering information there. So far there haven't been any confirmed signs of Sauron or anyone potentially related to him, but still he must be active in one form or another in this country trying to build a new power base."

"Given how much time has passed since Mordor fell he's just starting over again." The elf prince added.

"Indeed, so he'll be cautious and going to great lengths to hide."

"This world has forgotten all about the past and the pain, such the world does not remember Sauron."

"I agree making him even more dangerous in every sense." Gandalf replied agreeing fully with his mentor's words knowing full well of the dangerous implications of the world not remembering the dreaded Dark Lord and of what ways Sauron could take advantage of it.

The three walked along the sandy beach for a time until they found an old dirt path leading up to a road, following that the trio made their way to Beppu widely known for their hot springs. As they walked among the citizens of the town everyone saw Gandalf as some kind of college professor wearing a white suit with a silvery tie, glasses on his face and his long hair kept in a nice ponytail while his cane appeared as a simple walking stick assumingly to help him walk.

Legolas appeared as college student wearing an white collar shirt with the top two buttons undone and a black coat with matching pants while Nienna truly befitting her character was dressed in all black with a simple black jacket worn over a black blouse and a skirt while she like her other two companions appeared completely normal to the eyes of everyone else around them, but to each other they appeared as they did normally.

"Your spell is working?" The elf prince commented as he stood in front of a store window looking upon the appearance everyone else saw him as. "Is that how I look?"

"Yes the forms are based on your own character and sense of style drawn from the thoughts of everyone around this place." Gandalf replied as he took a moment to see how he appeared while he silently approved of his form while Nienna didn't seem to mind her appearance.

"Then what are we going to do about transportation…I don't think walking all the way to the capital of this conquered land is an acceptable means of transport."

"Don't worry I have an idea."

Wandering around town searching the trio came across a small cozy little pawn shop oddly called the Rapid Trader which was supposed to deal with gold, jewels and all kinds of objects in order to trade in for cash. Inside the small shop that held old coins, daggers, books, DVD players and all kinds of merchandise including old musical instruments. The man behind the counter was a slim shady kind of fellow wearing a red and yellow checkered shirt with blue jeans and glasses on his face while he had short blonde hair.

"Welcome to the Rapid Trader, we trade goods for cash." The shopkeeper spoke in an automatic unfeeling voice while keeping a bored expression on his face.

"I would like to know, for how much money could I trade this for?" Gandalf asked as he drew a large diamond from his pocket before presenting it to the shopkeeper. The diamond was roughly the size of a small baseball and the shopkeeper was in complete disbelief at the sight of the large gemstone.

"Oh come on not another one…so how did you make this fake diamond. Don't tell me a child's chemistry lab set?"

"You'll find this one is real." Gandalf said trying to assure the man, but the shopkeeper scoffed at the idea. He brought out some tools and went to work examining the diamond, but after ten minutes of examining and reexamining the diamond his face paled because for once after all of the fake jewels he had seen come his way…he now had a real one.

"But how did you?"

"How much is it worth?" Gandalf asked bluntly while the shopkeeper's brain had gone dead.

Minutes later the white wizard walked out of the pawn shop with over one hundred thousand pounds of currency for the group to use as their travel funds to get around Japan. If need be Gandalf and Legolas brought additional gemstones with them to barter with. Now it was only a question of finding transportation to the Tokyo Settlement.

* * *

><p>Later that evening back at the city of Misaki, Lelouch was inside his suite on the tenth floor of the hotel on the phone with Nunnally informing her of how the talks had gone and just this afternoon the paper work and contracts had been signed and finalized, but it required some time for the contract to be prepared and an inspection of the land to be conducted.<p>

Regardless Lelouch had accomplished his task and tomorrow he would take the next train back to the Tokyo Settlement. The high school student decided to take it easy for the rest of the evening and relax, but at the same time he wanted to see about expanding the ranks of his men in Misaki if at all possbile. Khamul and three of the other Nine Ringwraiths had arrived in the city and was now lurking in the sewers below the hotel awaiting his orders.

"I am sorry I have been gone for so long, but Lord Stadtfeld has been driving a hard bargain."

"Its ok big brother…it's something you have to do right?"

"You are exactly right Nunnally, I'll see if I can't bring you back something."

"Don't worry about it…I just want you home."

"Alright then I'll be home as soon as I can tomorrow."

"Ok, but it's too bad you missed Miss Milly's Cross-Dressing Festival we had a lot of fun."

"I don't doubt that you did." Lelouch replied while a fake smile was on his face, but secretly he was very glad to have missed it.

'_There is no way I'll be put into a dress.' _

"Anyway, do please come home soon."

"I shall and sleep well…we'll be together again soon." Lelouch said assuring his little sister of his eventual return before hanging up. Once he had put the wireless phone back onto its recharge base the young man opened up his suitcase and brought out the Palantir before using it to make contact with Sakura back in the Tokyo Settlement. At that moment Sakura had her hand over the other seeing stone inside the safety of the Dark Lord's sanctuary beneath the Ashford Academy.

'_**Has everything been proceeding well for you Sakura?'**_

'_Yes…the Witch King and his human servants have already acquired more weapons and supplies, but one of our contacts has come across information that could enable us to acquire some Knightmare Frames.'_

'_**I**__**see**__**…**__**yes **__**he **__**has **__**informed **__**me **__**of **__**much **__**earlier, **__**but **__**I **__**advise **__**caution. **__**Although **__**I **__**believe **__**we**__**'**__**re **__**ready **__**to **__**acquire **__**some **__**Knightmare **__**Frames **__**of **__**our **__**own **__**I **__**want **__**to **__**make **__**sure **__**we **__**can **__**pull **__**off **__**such **__**a **__**heist **__**without **__**leaving **__**any **__**evidence **__**of **__**our **__**involvement**__**…**__**that **__**includes **__**witnesses.**__**'**_

'_I understand and I will make sure the men are aware of that as well.'_

'_**Good I'll be returning to the Tokyo Settlement tomorrow.'**_

'_As you wish Lelouch-sama…'_

Suddenly the Dark Lord felt a troubling presence followed by the feel of the hotel shaking, but then to further add to the situation he was now suddenly in Lelouch sensed the panicked thoughts of the people on the lower floors below before they met a grisly end.

'_**Sakura **__**I**__**'**__**ll **__**need **__**to **__**cut **__**this **__**short**__**…**__**it **__**seems **__**I **__**have **__**a **__**complication. **__**I**__**'**__**ll **__**contact **__**you **__**again **__**later.**__**' **_

Lelouch stashed the seeing stone back into his suitcase while summoning Khamul and the Ringwraiths accompanying him to his location knowing that he might have to fight his way out of this place, but he was hoping it wouldn't come to it. Changing form the high school student transformed assuming his form as the Dark Lord of Mordor although he maintained his standard 5'8 height keeping the ceiling above his head in mind.

Summoning his new blade into his hand the Dark Lord knew whatever this presence was…he sensed its power realizing he would make a useful component towards completing his weapon since one of the requirements for the blade's completion would be to bathe it in the blood of his enemies and the stronger the foes slain the stronger the blade becomes using their power to further fuel the sword's own destructive power. After re-forging the sword that had belonged to the King of Gondor the blade had taken on a polished dark gray and black appearance with runes written in the black speech of Mordor engraved upon its blade.

Fading into the spirit world after taking hold of his suitcase the Dark Lord exited his room intending to escape, but aware now through the dying thoughts of the other guests of the hotel that the one responsible was commanding dark beasts spawned from his own body left Lelouch wondering if he could escape without being seen. Yet his concern now was that the beasts could pick up his scent instead.

The Dark Lord treaded carefully, but was mindful of any corpses he would likely find along the way since he didn't want to risk stepping in blood and leaving bloody footprints for his foes to notice. Ahead of him as he turned the corner trying to find an elevator since the stairs would be a likely hazard to him since the creatures invading the hotel would likely be present there to intercept any guests trying to escape.

But as he neared the elevator he saw a man with short gray hair wearing a purple trench-coat and black pants, but from his back a black serpent with red eyes was emerging from his back while what appeared to be a wolf's head emerging from his chest near the top of his left shoulder. Ahead of them the Dark Lord sensed a young human boy and a woman, but Lelouch sensed it…the girl wasn't human and obviously neither was the man in the trench coat.

"At last I found you, Arcueid Brunestud Princess of True Ancestor." The man in the trench coat spoke as the princess glared at him for a moment before responding.

"Nero…"

"Indeed…" Nero or rather Nrvnqsr Chaos, a vampire and one of The Twenty Seven Dead Apostle Ancestors, specifically he is number ten within their ranks. Thus far Lelouch hasn't been able to draw his attention, so he quietly stood there watching while taking a moment to subtly probe their minds for any useful information.

"STAY AWAY! Don't come any closer!" The young high school boy shouted while he held a small knife at the Dead Apostle before him.

The wolf head that had been a part of the evil creature's body emerged completed from the vampire's body rushing towards the boy who was frozen in fear, but Arcueid interrupted the beast. She saved the boy's life, however the creature sank its jaws onto the right wrist of the woman's arm drawing blood. Yet it didn't stop the True Ancestor from prying the beast off her before throwing it back at the man it had emerged from. Nero swatted the beast aside as the high school boy called for Arcueid into the open elevator with the two making their escape.

The vampire tried to stop them as the elevator doors closed on his right arm, but it was a rather pointless attempt as Nero had his arm severed by what Lelouch assumed was the boy with his knife. It didn't inconvenience the Dead Apostle long as he simple regenerated it.

'_I should count myself lucky that Lord Stadtfeld and his daughter left earlier this afternoon otherwise that might have complicated my business arrangements.' _

As the elevator descended Lelouch stood aside waiting for the vampire to leave so he could make his escape, but what he feared happened as Dead Apostle detected his presence as three wolf heads began to emerge from his body.

"So we have ourselves a spectator…heh…your attempt to hide is pitiful."

The wolves launched themselves from Chaos's body rushing at the Dark Lord who quickly responded by drawing his blade and slashing all three of the wolves at once destroying them before phasing back into the physical world revealing himself.

"What are you?"

"**Someone you shouldn't have crossed…I must kill you now since you have seen me." **

"Your armor looks nice, but I doubt you are that powerful?"

"**Ha****ha****ha****…****fool,****do ****you ****know ****of ****whom ****you ****speak ****to. ****Of ****course ****not, ****but ****I ****will ****teach ****you ****the ****true ****meaning ****of ****terror ****and ****power.****" **The Dark Lord spoke planting his blade in the ground in front of him before he began to sing a song of power. The Dark Lord chanted a song of wizardry, of piercing, opening, of treachery, revealing, uncovering and betraying. Amplified by the One Ring the song of power caused the entire hotel to tremble before the mighty song sung by the Dark Lord as all of the beasts lurking around the hotel began crying and suffer unbearable pain as being much more susceptible to the song as were their master whom their existence was tied to.

Nero himself tried to resist the song's terrible power having no defense against it tried to summon more beasts from his body to attack the singer of the song, but the new beasts he summoning including wolves, lions and other predators fell to their knees in terrible agony before coming close to attack the Dark Lord. Inside the elevator as it neared the bottom floor Arcueid and Shiki Tohno soon heard the terrible song as it began echoing throughout the hotel.

They began covering their ears as the song of the Dark Lord entered their ears causing pain to them.

"What…what is that!"

"I…I don't…know." Arcueid answered while trying to block out the song, but it wasn't doing the two of them much good. So when the elevator doors on the bottom floor opened they didn't waste a moment in running through the corpse littered lobby and hurried out of the hotel to escape. They were fortunate to flee when they did as the small group of Ringwraiths led by Khamul quickly piled into the elevator before taking it to tenth floor to aid their master just missing the fleeing True Ancestor and her human companion.

Upon the tenth floor Nrvnqsr Chaos was holding his head in unimaginable agony as blood was emerging from his eyes and mouth and any beast he attempt to send at the Dark Lord fell dead before they could reach him. In desperation the Dead Apostle charged the Dark Lord shifting into his ultimate form to confront him head on…the 999th beast as his human form disappeared assuming the appearance of a terrible humanoid beast.

Raising his sword up while he continued to sing the Dark Lord channeled his power into the blade before knocking the charging beast back with a surge of dark power released from his weapon. The Dead Apostle was on the ground coughing up blood just as the elevator opened and the Ringwraiths led by Khamul drew their blades descending upon the downed vampire, but at the last moment the vampire held up his arms with a look of a terrible fright in his eyes begging.

"Please…mercy I beg you…please!"

"**MERCY? ****Do ****not ****cross ****the ****Dark ****Lord ****and ****except ****thou ****life ****to ****be ****spared.****" **

The Dark Lord roared as he raised his blade ready to strike down the Dead Apostle, but he relented at the last moment putting his sword aside.

"**However…I shall offer thee a choice. You must chose, your life or your will to be forfeit."**

Lelouch opened his left hand revealing a silver ring.

"**Chose now…" **

His body was at its limit unable to endure any more with only death his obvious choice or survive and accept the ring. Chaos chose the latter and took the ring, but upon slipping it onto his finger it fused with his body becoming one with the center of his being within the mass of chaotic matter that made up his body. By doing so however he became enslaved to the Dark Lord's will, bound to him through the One Ring.

"**Arise ****now ****my ****new ****servant****…" **Lelouch replied as a dark smile appeared on his lips under the helmet he wore.

He relented at the last minute seeing a better use for the vampire especially since through the ring Chaos now had bounded him to his will giving him a set of eyes to use so that he can observe potential enemies. But Lelouch was forced to brush the thought aside for a moment as the former prince was now in danger of being discovered especially if the authorities were to find that he alone survived while everyone else in the hotel had been killed.

'_**I can't waste a moment…I need to alter the registries and change it to where I had left the hotel earlier in the evening.'**_

The Dark Lord thought as he and his fellow servants hurried to the lobby to change the registries and update the proper books and such to avoid being singled out and noticed by the authorities. Nero under orders of his new master departed the hotel to recover his strength. Just in time before the police arrived at the building the Dark Lord and his servants altered all of the records and made doubly sure to destroy any security recordings of all that had taken place thus further ensuring that no one would learn he had been present within the structure when the vampire attacked.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile across Japan on the outskirts of town of Iwaizumi located in Shimohei District of the Iwate Prefecture the Witch King along with the other three Ringwraiths along with forty of their human servants and members of their own resistance group that had yet to receive a proper name. But tonight a dangerous and risky operation was about to be conducted.<p>

Across the grassy plain laid a small Britannian military base and outpost which was also home to an airfield. According to intelligence they received from their agents and other sources it was this base that was receiving a shipment of Knightmare Frames via aerial transport from the Britannian Mainland. The objective of the resistance group was to seize these weapons for themselves, but the most important aspect of this mission was for them to maintain secrecy of their identities especially the Nazgul.

But with the Nazgul led by the Witch King they would succeed and not only capture the brand new Sutherlands arriving in, but they would wipe out the base and its garrison of Britannian Soldiers in a swift and conclusive stroke. The operation began with each of the three Nazgul accompanying the Witch King would led a small strike force to infiltrate the base.

One group would make their way to the Knightmare Frame hangers were the guards would be dispatched of while the members of the strike team would board the enemy machines and commandeer them. The Second group would infiltrate the base itself and first make their way to the barracks and plant bombs to kill the slumbering soldiers before reaching the power room to cut power to the rest of the base before detonating the bombs destroying the barracks.

The third and final group had the most important task of the other two groups. Their job would be to seize the control tower of the base and the security room thus ensuring the other two teams could accomplish their missions without detection by security cameras and systems since group three would disable the security systems and destroy the camera recordings removing any potential evidence for military investigators to discover what had taken place. Also with the control tower under their control they can prevent most communications from alerting the Britannian forces to what was happening while group two would ensure the communication lines and devices would be disabled as well alongside the third group.

Overall it was dangerous and risky, but the rewards would be worth the risk. Lelouch and the Witch King agreed for their future war against Britannia they would need Knightmare Frames, but they wouldn't settle for obsolete pieces of junk heading for a scrap heap, but they would seize some of their latest models.

The RPI-13 Sutherland would be more ideal units to seize and use since the machine's predecessor, the RPI-11 Glasgow, which was more designed for combat against tanks and traditional ground assault vehicles and such. But sadly they were not built for anti-Knightmare Frame combat which wasn't surprising at the time since Britannia hadn't even conceived the idea of anti-Knightmare Frame combat. Yet due to the success of the Glasgow it was naturally no surprise that other nations would begin research and development into their own Knightmare Frames.

To stay ahead of other nations Britannia using combat data and developments in research to produce newer models more designed for not only combat against ground forces and such, but also against other Knightmare Frames as well. The Sutherland was the first, but it would be eventually followed by other fifth generation frames, however the best among them currently was the RPI-209 Gloucester which was superior to the Sutherland being a high-performance unit which was beginning to be seen more commonly on the battlefields around the world in the possession of ace-pilots, military officers or members of royalty such as Princess Cornelia li Britannia.

All in all while the Gloucester would have been a more preferred unit to capture for their growing organization, but the Sutherland was the best they were likely going to acquire for now. Yet on the offhand it was probably better too since the Sutherland is more widely used by the Britannian forces here in Area 11 which meant replacement parts and supplies would be more easier to acquire so maintenance wouldn't be too troublesome.

The Witch King communicated with his fellow Nazgul telepathically giving them orders to begin the operation while he would lead the rest of their men to seize the plane transporting the new Sutherlands and acquire them. No matter how successful they conduct the operation the Witch King knew they would need to act fast and quickly flee once the bombs are set off and they have the Sutherlands in their possession since the longer they linger the more risky the situation would be for them especially since reinforcements from the District Base could arrive here within a half-hour at best possible speed depending on how the situation changes.

They must strike hard and fast then take the units and anything else they can take and then flee before the Britannian military can dispatch units to the base to investigate what has happened.

Inside the base one of the Nine had infiltrate the base successfully after using a special spell to render its black robes and armor that provided its physical form completely invisible for a short time allowing for an easy infiltration. Having made its way down to the basement of the main building the dark creature stealthily made its way to the main security room where it would shut down and disable the base's security systems before letting in the rest of its infiltration team.

When it reached the secured door the Nazgul began knocking on the door, despite growing annoyed with the knocking while they saw no one outside one of the soldiers inside the room opened the door stepping outside to look around. At that moment the Nazgul slipped in waiting for the soldier to come back inside.

"What the hell was that?"

"I don't know some smart ass prankster."

"But I didn't see anyone out there?"

"Maybe we better check the cameras, either someone hacked them or they are on the frizz or something."

"Maybe we can get maintenance to check out the air conditioner while they are at it. Is it me or did it just get colder in here…a lot colder?"

"Shit it's like everything in this fucking place is falling apart."

Suddenly striking without warning the Nazgul grabbed the soldier's neck from behind and quickly snapped it killing the man instantly before quickly punching the other to the ground before he had a chance to realize what had happened. Kneeling down grabbing the man by the throat the Ringwraith proceeded to choke the life out of the poor soldier holding his throat in an unbreakable and tightening vice-like grip.

Possibly due skin contact with the Nazgul's toxic breath the man died in seconds, but without an autopsy no one could be sure if the poison killed him or if he died by suffocation first. With the two men dead the Nazgul didn't waste a second as it went to work disabling all of the alarms and security locks around the base including the security cameras by having them replay certain sections of recorded footage over and over again while at the same time disabling any further recordings.

After it had finished the spell that had rendered the dark being invisible to all eyes ended as the black robes and armor responsible for granting the Nazgul presence in the physical world reappeared.

Pushing another button on the console the Nazgul opened the hidden escape route meant for commanders or VIPs staying at the base allowing the waiting armed infiltrators of Team Three entry into the base while cautiously advancing ready with assault rifles equipped with silencers. With the guards more focused on perimeter security the guards inside the base was almost non-existent. Team Two entered the base as well with their entrance thanks to Team Three who cleared all of the security doors for them and killed the cameras and the alarms.

But anyone unfortunate enough to be seen by the infiltration teams or the Nazgul died before they could alert the base. As the men belonging to Team Three moved to rendezvous with their Ringwraith leader Team Two moved into position making their way to the barracks ready with four semtex bombs more than enough to destroy the Britannian soldiers' sleeping quarters.

The Witch King was pleased, but he advised caution.

'_Continue to proceed as plan, but be wary this mission is proceeding too smoothly.'_

"Prepare the vehicles…as soon as the bombs are detonated…we'll attack and seize the plane as planned." The Witch King spoke to his subordinate a young Japanese woman with black hair tied into a bun.

"Yes my lord."

On another corner of the base another of the Ringwraiths led his team into the hanger entering through a door in the rear taking them through a supply room before entering the hanger itself. Using hand signals the Nazgul instructed two of his men carrying XM2010 Enhanced Sniper Rifles equipped with an optional inferred scope which they used to target and kill some of the patrolling guards while their equipped silencers helped to prevent possible detection.

The Nazgul slowly opened the door pointing out the lone four guards inside the hanger watching the Knightmare Frames, but they were so sure of the base's security that they were slacking off from their duties by playing a game of poker using a wooden crate as a makeshift table and work stools as chairs. They were on the far side of the hanger near the right leg of one of the stationary Sutherlands, but they didn't notice the door slowly open as the snipers took aim for the first two while the Nazgul drew a side arm which was a MK23 pistol equipped with a suppressor as well.

The Ringwraith fired first killing one man with a well placed head shot while the other two fired killing two more with sudden head shots and then one of the snipers quickly killed the last one before he could radio for help.

The infiltrators swarmed into the hanger as the pilots for the Sutherlands residing within the hanger began scrambling up the pilot ladders to man the machines while two Japanese men carrying backpacks distributed ghost activation keys, acquired on the black market, among the pilots to use in bypassing the security and pass code protocols of the Sutherlands to ensure their capture.

Those who were not piloting a Sutherland began planting explosives in key areas of the hanger while one of his subordinates gave the Nazgul an AT4 recoilless smoothbore anti-tank weapon while the rest of the men once they planted the explosives readied heavy weapons such as two more preparing AT4 launchers while the rest prepared assault rifles.

The eleven Sutherlands inside the hanger, one by one, were activated.

Inside the main building the third group had successfully seized the control tower after killing the personnel stationed inside just after the supply plane carrying the new Sutherlands had landed. The Ringwraith of Team Three was in possession as was Team One, so now all that waited was Team Two who were at this moment inside the power generator room rigging the last semtex bombs on the generator while linking the bombs they planted on the communication equipment so when the power generator explodes the communication systems would be taken out as well including the barracks.

After the finishing Team Two hurried through the base and exited the main building getting ready to join in on the assault assisting Team One.

Upon receiving telepathic word that Team Two had completed its assignment the Witch King gave the order to begin the assault as a chain of explosions tore through the base as the sleeping quarters of the Britannian troops stationed at the base went up in flames as did the power generator and communications arrays were destroyed in a ball of fire.

As the confused and panicked soldiers hurried to the main building to investigate what had happened the doors of the Knightmare Frame hanger were blown apart followed by the eleven captured Sutherlands racing out firing their rifles at the confused and dazed Britannian soldiers. The Ringwraith casting aside its AT4 launcher drew its sword before racing out into the fray following behind the charging Sutherlands screeching loudly as it found a group of enemy soldiers emerging from the side of the hanger.

Terrified and frightened of the charging Ringwraith the soldiers were frozen, but they fired at the black robed creature after the Nazgul cleaved a frightened soldier in two with a swing of its sword. Their weapons had no effect as the dark being raised its sword and made short work of the remaining soldiers leaving a pile of decapitated body parts in its wake before moving on to find more victims.

Once they had cleared the hanger the bombs planted within the structure exploded setting it ablaze, but admits the chaos and slaughter happening around the plane the pilot on the craft was trying to start the aircraft back up, but behind it small explosions brought down the steel gate as three transport trucks led by a small gray and rusty jeep hurried onto the runaway heading straight at the plane. On the hood of the jeep was the Witch King, drawing its pale long sword, chanting in the black speech as the drawn blade became engulfed in flames.

With a terrible battle cry the driver of the jeep shove his foot down on the gas pedal.

Although he had expected soldiers from the plane to rush out and confront him, but instead one of the Sutherlands the craft was transporting was deployed from the plane aiming its rifle at the speeding jeep. Tapping its foot down on the hood the jeep came to a sudden halt while turning the car sharply, using it at the right moment the Witch King launched himself straight at the Knightmare Frame.

Using a spell the ground below the feet of the Knightmare Frame became frozen as a layer of ice formed below the machine and twenty feet around it so when the Witch King landed upon the ice he used the momentum gained from his flight through the air to slide along the ice, but when he passed the Sutherland he cleaved through its legs with his flaming sword causing the machine to fall over onto its back.

Helpless and unable to escape the pilot tried to open the hatch, but the Witch King drove his flaming blade through the cockpit before channeling more power into his weapon to increase the intensity of the flames until the screams of the pilot inside finally died down. As the Witch King dispatched of the lone Knightmare Frame sent against them the other two Ringwraiths stormed the plane through the open hatch and quickly seized the cockpit killing the pilots and the cockpit including the two men who had been aboard as well.

On board the craft were nine brand new Sutherland Knightmare Frames, the tenth unit was destroyed by the Witch King, but capturing twenty one undamaged units was an accomplishment upon itself. Once their men in the transport trucks seized the machines planting explosives on the plane at the same time the Witch King watched in triumph as the nine brand new machines disembarked the plane.

With a nod the Nazgul in the cockpit set the plane on a conclusion course with what remained of the main building of the base before leaping off the craft and rejoining his superior and subordinates as everyone not in a Knightmare Frame boarded a transport truck taking what weapons and supplies they could seize before fleeing the base with their new captured Knightmare Frames.

"We have achieved victory!" The Witch King declared proudly as cheers from the trucks could be heard as they fled into the night as the transport plane slammed into the main building before exploding.

They left no witnesses.

* * *

><p>Back at Misaki Town, Lelouch grinned maliciously as he knew the Witch King and his subordinates had been successful. He was pleased with their capturing of the Sutherlands, but he was also pleased by how the resistance members fighting alongside the Nazgul had preformed. In the beginning he had been concerned about recruiting humans to serve under the Witch King since mortals in the presence of the Nazgul let alone the Lord of the Nazgul could eventually suffer the deadly effects of the Black Breath which would ultimately result in death due to being in constant close proximity with the dark beings.<p>

Now the Dark Lord couldn't have his human subordinates dying in the presence of their superiors, so an easy way was devised to prevent such a thing from happening. A simple potion brewed by the Witch King granted the resistance members serving the Nazgul immunity from suffering the black breath from prolonged exposure to the presence of the Nazgul and granted them a small measure of resistance from their aura of terror, but rugged training and conditioning was needed to help them better cope with their terror inducing auras.

Yet this solution and training had both bore unexpected fruit in ways the Dark Lord could have imagined.

In conjunction to their granted immunity they surprisingly became almost completely fearless to the point that they weren't afraid of death itself so in the face of possible death by a group of enemy soldiers or a bunch of Knightmare Frames they wouldn't flinch. During an earlier mission it was found the potion itself along with their resistance to the aura of terror gave them a very high pain tolerance.

If one was to drive a knife through one of their hands they wouldn't even scream let alone even bat an eyebrow at the wound. In fact the Witch King reported some of their men had taken injury such as gunshot wounds to the limbs and such, but the men weren't bothered by the injuries at all let alone seemingly unaware of them until the medic among them began examining them. With all of this taken under consideration, the resistance fighters under the Nazgul were capable of pushing themselves harder and longer than any normal human being and they would face their foes with no thought for their own personal safety other than doing their upmost to complete their assigned mission.

As their numbers grew and with the men possessing such benefiting traits including unquestioning loyalty since they required the potion on a regular basis to maintain their new prowess, not to mention they know that betraying the Dark Lord and the Witch King would have far more graver repercussions than anything else, so perhaps if the men had to be afraid of something then it would be the Witch King and his master.

Lelouch relaxed in the comfort of the old Shinto Shrine he was taking up temporary residence found on the outskirts of town. With the palantir in his hand the Dark Lord observed the Witch King and his forces fleeing the base, it would at least be another hour before the Britannian military realizes what had happened judging by the actions of the nearby bases as Lelouch used the seeing stone to briefly observe each base.

"**How pathetic…they are so confident in their superiority over the Japanese they have relaxed their guard and become careless." **

The Dark Lord spoke as he mused at how seemingly easy his raid has gone, but as a precaution he did order the Witch King and his subordinates to thoroughly check all of the machines and equipment they stole for any kind of tracking devices and such just to be on the safe side once they were a safe distance away from the base.

Although it was likely going to be unnecessary, but the Dark Lord had no intention of being careless let alone leaving anything to chance again.

Granted through many resistance movements including the largest among them the Japan Liberation Front had much of their survival and success over the years owed to the fact that Viceroy Clovis and much of the soldiers under his command were incompetent. Not to mention with all power advocated to the District Generals, whom were quite corrupt, abused their positions advancing those with blood relations or after accepting bribes and such so the men who brought their positions or were given them lacking the ability to manage their positions and the people under them further contributed to the success and survival of the resistance groups.

Like the JLF the Dark Lord intended to milk the situation for all it was worth, but he wasn't going to stop there.

The ring he had given to Chaos earlier this evening was among the new sets of Rings of Power the Dark Lord had been producing in his free time to replace the ones lost or destroyed and then using contacts established he was preparing to begin slowly distributing them among the nobility and military leaders in Area 11 thus preparing the way for Lelouch to begin his plan to seize control of Japan and set the stage for its liberation while he would stockpile some additional rings for later use.

He might have been able to initiate the plan sooner, but Lelouch had discovered early on when he attempted to forge new rings of power using modern tools and such were frustratingly inadequate tools to use for such precise forging and creation of such magical items. Thus the Dark Lord was forced to create his own tools from scratch and then securing a suitable forge he could use to fashion the rings, which he also had to build himself in the end.

At current besides the ring he had given Chaos there were six others currently in the hands of others whom he was using as testers to check the rings' powers and if they were working properly and not crumbling like some of his earlier attempts when he used modern tools to forge them. However unlike the old rings of power which nine of them turned nine kings of men into the Nazgul some of the new rings were specifically designed to not only grant some small measure of power, but also along with brining them and their wearers under the thrall of the One Ring and the Dark Lord they were designed to ensure their humanity remained intact.

After all humans fading into the spirit world and becoming Ringwraiths would draw too much attention and could work against him more than benefiting him.

The nobles and military leaders and officers he planned to ensnare with his new rings would be more useful to him if they remained human, but that's not saying the Dark Lord would have other rings designed with other purposes in mind as well. Yet those rings were being either saved or set aside for a specific purpose later on.

Of course before he could proceed with both plans and designs he needed to know if the new rings he produced on their wearers would not crumble or fall apart. Even if the rings did their losses wouldn't affect him in any meaningful way, but it would however mean he would need to work on refining the forging process. Something the Dark Lord was hoping he wouldn't have to do, but he was confident the new rings forged this time around would be perfect for his upcoming designs.

As Lelouch contemplated his next move for the evening toying with the idea of possibility returning to the Tokyo Settlement earlier than planned one of the Nazgul with Khamul alerted their master to the approaching presences of a group of beings. Using the seeing stone still in his hand Lelouch used it to gaze outside and saw three figures approaching the shrine building in which the Dark Lord resided in.

One of them was a Britannian Nobleman judging by his clothing and attire which consisted of a white and gold Victorian styled suit complete with a white cravat and ruffled cuffs and black polished boots while the other was a Japanese woman with shoulder-length blue hair wearing tight black shorts, a green shirt with a long sleeve light purple jacket, a red headband and brown boots. She moved as if in a hypnotized state, but it was the third person, another woman, who drew the Dark Lord's attention. Unlike the nobleman her attire was quite different being purple and dark blue robes lined with gold. He couldn't see her face due to the head dress and hood she wore, but her face and body shape was enough for him to tell she was a woman.

However Lelouch knew she was more than that…she was a heroic spirit, a servant summoned to fight in the coming Holy Grail war.

'_Well it seems I have a chance to eliminate some of the competition early and maybe even claim his servant for my own.' _

Lelouch thought as he hid the seeing stone back inside his bag before hiding the bag itself in a corner in the dark room before fading into the unseen world to change his appearance to his Dark Lord form while he gave orders for his Ringwraiths to get ready to ambush the foolish Britannian Magus who had likely come to this desolate shrine outside of town for an obvious reason. His grin and the fact that the Japanese woman was helpless in her hypnotized state provided enough hints to the point that he didn't need to read his mind.

He was likely going to rape the woman and then kill her feeding her spirit to her servant.

'_No matter the era or how far humanity has come they are still pathetic and lowly creature and Britannia Nobles are the worse among them.' _

The Dark Lord thought as he observed from the unseen world the three enter the building with the nobleman predictably pushing the woman to the ground, but due to the spell cast on her mind she barely responded to what was happening. She fell to the ground in a heap like a doll while seeing this Lelouch tightened the grip on his sword he readied to cleave the man in two.

The Servant seemingly noticed the presence of the Dark Lord and Lelouch knew it, but for reasons that stunned him somewhat the female servant turned a blind eye to the approaching Dark Lord whom she couldn't see, but she knew he was there. More so she felt the power the presence possessed…it frightened her…yet she was curious about it at the same time because the power felt ancient somehow, but yet it was very powerful.

The servant's master was too caught up in the moment to notice it, but seizing the opportunity as the Britannian Magus too focused on the woman in front of him knelt down to begin stripping her.

Before he had a chance Sauron' death strike came swiftly and off came the Magus's head with the blade cutting cleanly through the man's neck like a hot knife through butter without even harming the woman or getting blood on her.

"Thank you for doing that." The servant spoke happily.

"**I know what you are…a heroic spirit summoned to take part in the Holy Grail war, but your willingness to allow your master to die tells me you didn't have any loyalty to him." **

Lelouch as the Dark Lord Sauron spoke as he reappeared in the physical realm whose appearance surprised the woman while the Japanese woman was still left in a hypnotic daze on the ground with the headless corpse of the dead Britannian Magus near her.

"I felt nothing for that pig…I was abused by him and he intended for me to watch me rape that woman and then force me to feed on her soul."

"**I see, but you realize without a master you cannot remain in this world?" **

"I know, but it was to the point that anything was better than being his servant."

"**Then become my servant…" **

"What?"

"**I too tend to take part in the coming war, but I have different aims in mind. I can promise I would be a better master than he and serving me would grant you a good deal of benefits." **

"I have no interest in the Holy Grail."

"**That's perfect, but what if I can offer you to remain in this world indefinitely?" **

"That would mean you would constantly have to provide me with prana."

"**That wouldn't be problem and I have other ways as well. Besides don't you want to remain in this world instead?"**

The question stunned the woman for a time, but after giving the matter some careful thought and remembering he did kill the pig she had for a master where he could have waited until he was done with the human before killing him or do nothing at all…the servant decided to accept since it would mean remaining in this world longer instead of returning to the cold throne where her soul resided.

"I accept…I am your servant, I am of the Caster class."

"**And I accept your services…" **

Lelouch was pleased since now he didn't need to bother summoning his own servant and the recruitment of the female Caster provided him with what he needed to take part in the Holy Grail war. As their contract was made and the Command Mantra appeared on Lelouch's forearm Caster through their master and servant connect only then began to fully realize what her master really was.

She saw beyond the mortal visage that he had and saw something she could never had foreseen in a being. Her mind wanted to deny it, but yet she felt his full power and felt it bearing down on her like a giant eye was now upon her. Caster fainted from the overwhelming power she was feeling from their connection…this was no mortal magus…he was something far beyond human.

* * *

><p>AN: Whew ok that's another chapter done and for those of you wondering…did Sauron/Lelouch just rick-rolled Nero from Tsukihime/Melty Blood into submission then the answer is yes. Using a song of power as an offensive weapon is something Sauron during his days as a servant under the First Dark Lord Morgoth had done against the elf king Finrod Felagund in the Silmarillion when the two engaged in battle of songs between the two with Sauron winning.

(Nero also only lived because I have no intention of interfering overly with the plot/events of Tsukihime or really involving them save for mentions, cameos, etc. After all it would interfere with the story and I did need someone to compose a test scene with.)

That was experimental scene one and the next following would be the abilities and tactics the Nazgul used more specifically with the Witch King. But just to be on the safe side their followers working very closely with them were provided elixirs to give them protection from both the Nazgul's aura of terror since those usually standing in prolonged presence of the Witch King and the Nazgul could attract the Black Breath and end up potentially dying.

According to the lore on the Nazgul I had studied on, it happens to their enemies of course, but I wasn't sure about their allies so I did that scene just in case.

C.C. will be appearing in chapter six…not in person per se, but it would mark her appearance before her introduction and Lelouch's war against Britannia will end up starting sooner than he would have liked it due to unforeseen events that happen beyond his control. But this would only delay the Witch King from joining in on the war during the early stages.

Now to answer another question as tempting the idea has been I won't do a harem in this story only because it would not only take away from the story, but for a crossover involving Lord of the Rings it just doesn't feel right for it. Now I know there are a small number of harem fics with LOTR out there, but it just wouldn't feel right for one to be in this fic.

But that aside now the next chapter will be out in a week or so after enough time to collect on feedback and reviews have passed so if I need to make my revisions or anything of the short I can do so to this chapter and the next one which is ready to go at any time. Thank you for reading and will be seeing you next week.


	5. Chapter 5 It begins

A/N: another week and here is another chapter. I might need more time with the next one although it's just about finished, but looking at the story so far I might stretch out the Holy Grail war a bit for the sake of the story. Anyway thank you all for the reviews and input and without further delay here is the next chapter.

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

It begins

The following morning at the site of what was the Britannian Iwaizumi Garrison Outpost, but right now almost nothing was left except for a smoldering ruin. The soldiers that had been dispatched to investigate the base's silence found most of the base in flames and all of its stationed troops dead. Standing outside the Iwaizumi Base's Knightmare Frame hanger a man in his late twenties wearing a blue uniform with a gold trim, blue hair and a tan complexion was surveying the damage.

"Lord Jeremiah…" A female voice called as Jeremiah Gottwald turned and faced his subordinate who was approaching him.

"Did the crews find anything?"

"Nothing yet sir…there is still some debris to clear away, but judging by the number of bodies its clear a majority of the garrison was killed while asleep in their barracks."

"I can't believe this…" Jeremiah began as he kicked a discarded Britannian soldier's helmet to the side in frustration. "This base was chosen to secretly receive a shipment of new Sutherlands, but then last night a group of Eleven terrorist managed to successfully steal the shipment and wipe out the entire garrison as well."

Villetta Vu didn't say a word since she understood her superior's frustrations. For a garrison base holding at least three hundred troops this obvious lack in security paid a major role in last night's events. But not only that, but they pulled off the theft easily and escaped with the nearby outpost only finding out nearly two hours after the fact allowing the ones responsible to get away.

"Any survivors yet?"

"Nothing yet my lord, we're still trying to pry open the downed Sutherland to recover its mission recorder hoping it might give us some insight on what exactly had transpired last night. Although judging from the damage I hope there is still a recorder to recover." Villetta remarked as she saw the cockpit block on the outside seemed melted from the inside.

Yet this didn't improve Jeremiah's mood as he couldn't figure out which force was responsible for this. This was too clean for the Japan Liberation Front to be behind it and he couldn't imagine any other groups that could have pulled off such a raid so easily. The work crews kept going as they cleared away more debris and dragged out more corpses to be identified later.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon somewhere underground on the slope of Mount Fuji, Caster awoke finding herself lying on a make shift bed inside a windowless room with a dresser drawer and a few simple commodities. As she sat up in the bed she felt tremendous strength flowing through her. She stood up straighten out her robes as she tried to collect herself and remember what had happened before she had passed out. A knock came at the door interrupting her thoughts when one of the Nazgul stepped into the room. It was already obvious to the heroic spirit that this creature was definitely without a doubt not human. Yet something about the creature made Caster tremble with fear…looking upon the dark being she suddenly felt like running.<p>

"The master has been waiting for you to awaken he is down in the forge." The Nazgul spoke in a raspy and ghostly voice as it gestured for the heroic spirit to follow.

Traversing a man-made tunnel dug deep into the earth, but the tunnel seemed to have been part of an old mine. Caster and the Nazgul entered a open cavern where a small stream of lava flowed into the room like a small river while the there was an anvil along with other tools giving the chamber an appearance of a blacksmiths' workshop, but there was a wider array of tools.

Drawing a melting cup from the lava he used to melt down the enchanted ore Lelouch held the metal cup with a pair of large special priers to hold it. Caster observed the shirtless Lelouch carefully poured it into a specially designed mold held together by two strong pieces of steel wire. Then he proceeded to use what was left to pour it into a second mold.

Once he was finished he put the melting cup and the priers he had used aside before walking over to the two molds to observe them as he waved his hands over them silently speaking an ancient chant in a old and forgotten tongue as the molds glowed brightly for a moment before dying down and the inscription on the One Ring glowed as well appearing for a moment as two newly forged Rings of Power had now been crafted and were newly bound under the One Ring.

Letting the newly forged Rings cool and solidify within their molds after he was finished he noticed the awoken heroic spirit.

"I see you are awake…Caster or would you prefer I call you Medea?"

"How did you know my real name?" Medea inquired pulling back her hood releasing her long light blue hair. Her blue eyes focused upon the young man looking at her trying to further comprehend the power within him.

"I confess I didn't know it at first, but as you slept I recognized the magic you used and their source. I figured it out to put it simply, but it did take me some time."

"But who…or rather what are you exactly."

"You did notice didn't you?" Lelouch said knowing full well that Medea likely had a good idea of the powers he possessed.

"Your powers as well as the energy within your body are far too great for a mere human Magus to possess."

"That is quite true, although I was born in a human body as all humans are…yet my soul is a different story. In another life I was a Maiar…a divine spirit, but I think a better description to use would be a helper to the greater divine powers that formed and shaped the Earth when it was born. I even took part in the great music that gave birth to this world alongside my brethren before our creator Eru."

Medea was stunned and rendered speechless at the self description of the young man before her. Had he been a lesser being she might have scoffed at the idea of it and ridiculed him, but yet feeling the power he possessed she knew it was likely no jest. His powers were beyond even the gods of her days or at least possibly rivaling theirs.

"I know a little bit about you as well Medea, although there are a number of different versions of your story in existence as there are for most if not all myths and legends."

"I don't doubt they are…"

"Indeed, but my own research and in-depth study of both history, legends and mythology I know much, but yet I am surprised no information exists on the First, Second, Third and Fourth ages of Middle Earth." Lelouch explained as he recalled searching in vain for any record or note about the Ages of Middle Earth since he had wondered what had become of Gondor and the other kingdoms and lands following his final defeat at the end of the third age.

He couldn't believe that no information existed regarding those time periods, but granted the time period between his rebirth and his fall it was possible yet something in the back of his mind nagged at him making him think otherwise. Lelouch deduced that something during the fourth age must have happened, a large and potentially catastrophic event.

Yet with no information to support the idea he couldn't reach any solid conclusions, but the appearance of gods and deities throughout history in mythology interested him. At one point the Dark Lord believed they were possibly his brethren dwelling among humanity, but further study proved that this wasn't the case as these gods and goddesses including other similar deities were born into this world somehow through the desires and wishes of humanity as a whole.

Or so says the books he had found in the Matou Household at least.

How could such beings come about in such a manner mystified him, but he lacked information to really research the matter and potentially confirm if such beings appearing were such the case, but one day the Dark Lord did intend to investigate such phenomenon and perhaps clarify such facts and confirm if they are real or not.

Regardless for now Lelouch brushed the thought aside.

"Either way, regardless of what version your story is correct…given Jason's treatment of you I likely would have done the same." Lelouch mused while Medea was amused by the young man.

"You believe I was justified?"

"Indeed, but it's a pity you didn't kill him."

"I thought letting him live with the knowledge was enough, but I did do the most for my third child."

"You must mean Medus…I see so that means you did sacrifice yourself for him in the end killing your uncle and securing his place as king following his death. That was noble of you…"

"Well thank you…"

* * *

><p>As Medea and Lelouch spoke and engaged in a long conversation, in a sealed room at the Peach Factory where they made their hideout the Witch King of Angmar was kneeling on the ground pouring a large cup full of silver and iron while it chanted a powerful spell in the Black Speech of Mordor.<p>

"**Hear my call…place thy flesh at my command and I will place my fate in thy sword, with the authority of the Holy Grail with your desire to comply answer my call." **

The Witch King completed the circle before standing in front of it and spoke the rest of the spell with the circle itself glowing bright red.

"**I possess the virtue of all creation along with the power to release evil into that creation, and I offer before you my pledge…now cloaked in the three great word spirits hailing from the seven heavens…COME FORTH TO ME!" **

The Witch King spoke finishing the chant as a blinding light filled the room forcing the Lord of the Nazgul to shield his eyes from the light. The light eventually died down as the Nazgul had successfully completed the spell as in the center of the circle before him was a man, obvious Japanese judging from his attire. But he was a shinobi, a ninja equipped and armed with an ideal arsenal of weapons and tools which included shurikens, kunai and even a katana on his back.

"I am Assassin reporting for duty master."

"Arise...Assassin I have need of your skills for the war that is coming." The Witch King beckoned as the ninja arose to his feet facing the dreaded Nazgul Lord as his eyes showed with absolute confidence.

* * *

><p>At his ring forge, which doubled as a safe house, Lelouch knew the Witch King had succeeded in summoning a servant of his own, so all that remained was for Sakura to summon her own. At the moment the young man sat at a table dressed in his school uniform while across from him sat Medea as the two were still engaged in their ongoing conversation.<p>

"I see, so you missed quite a bit."

"I think quite a bit would be an understatement." Lelouch replied with a smile finding amusement in those words.

"I never imagined my new master would be one who is so interested in the Age of Gods."

"I understand, but for someone who has missed so much and to learn that the gods and goddesses that have appeared in those days were the results of people dreaming and wishing for deities to come has become a intriguing subject for him."

"Those were quite the times, but unlike them…you surely appear to be more of the real thing."

"Maybe, but I don't know about that. Although I can't envision them of having been more powerful then the Kings and Queens of Valar, because if that was the case then they wouldn't have declined as they did as the Age of Gods came to end."

"That is an interesting claim…you have proven to be an interesting being yourself through."

"Thank you, but the same could be said about you."

"Indeed…"

"What is your ultimate aim for the Holy Grail?" Medea asked as the question came right out of nowhere.

"I intend to destroy the artifact…according to Zouken Matou's notes and his research of the fragments of the grail he had collected the Holy Grail has been corrupted during the third holy grail war and the corruption has grown stronger over the following wars tainting its contents and comprising any possible wish that could be made. Because of that I have no use for a ruined artifact, but all of the power stored within it is a different story. I will use it as the final component to complete my masterpiece."

"You do know servants take part in this war to gain a wish from the grail?"

"I do, but considering the fact it has been comprised would any wish be true or a cruel reserve of what you want? Besides I intend to reward you and other servants who aid me in my task…what if I could grant you flesh and blood once more?"

The idea seemed impossible, but yet given his power and knowledge Medea did wonder if he was capable of such a feat.

"In fact I was busy working on crafting specialized rings for such purposes that would not grant you bodies of flesh and blood, but also enhance your abilities."

"You…can do that"

"I can and I am." Lelouch replied with a smile.

* * *

><p>Later that evening back at the Ashford Academy Lelouch had returned, although later than he had planned. Yet his sister was pleased with his safe return, but that didn't save him from getting an ear full from the young girl. The two were enjoying dinner together in the living room at the Ashford Academy clubhouse.<p>

"Brother why were you late coming home?"

"I am sorry Nunnally with that nasty business that happened at the hotel I wasn't able to get home since they had closed off the trains and transport outside of town, especially because of the homicides happening in Misaki recently."

"But I was still worried…don't do that again ok."

"I promise I'll try, but those were events beyond my control."

"Still don't make me worry." Nunnally spoke sternly sounding more like a mother scolding a child instead of a younger sister.

"Alright I promise I'll not make you worry."

* * *

><p>As the two enjoyed their meal Sakura was underground inside the dark sanctuary where like the Witch King before her she was preparing to summon her own servant in preparation for the war, but across Japan at the lair and resistance headquarters commanded by the Lord of the Nazgul had gotten acquainted with his new servant who was his to command.<p>

The two stood on a catwalk overlooking some of the new Sutherlands they had successfully stolen the Witch King stood quietly as some of them were being prepared to be moved out to a new location since his master knew keeping all of their weapons in one place especially stolen Sutherlands was not a wise idea so the group was preparing to move them to a hideout they had established in Shinjuku Ghetto and the group was going to transport them using old railway tunnels that were older than the subway lines used currently by resistance movements.

Due to their age no one really used them since no one had any existing maps of the railway systems so more or less it was an underground labyrinth, but the Nazgul with the aid of their dark master had successfully navigated these dark tunnels and so it was possible for their followers to do the same. Amidst their preparations the Lord of the Nazgul sensed something and his concerns were confirmed when one of his subordinates a young teenage girl with black hair approached.

"My lord we have intruders…it appears to be the Britannian Army."

"HOW DID THEY FIND US?" The Lord of the Nazgul demanded as both he and Lelouch knew they had gone to extensive lengths to cover their tracks well.

"My lord it appears the nearby town is being liquidated by the Britannian army, so the townspeople trying to escape have fled here." The worried girl said as she followed her superior to a window where the Witch King saw their men below intercepting the fleeing townsfolk.

A light growl escaped the Witch King's mouth.

"We have no choice…prepare for battle. Take the townsfolk into the factory and prepare the Sutherlands for deployment. However…in the meantime prepare to abandon the factory…follow the set protocols."

"Yes my lord…" The girl said before leaving to carry out her master's will while the Witch King drew his sword getting ready to engage the Britannian military.

Outside crossing through the peach tree fields a group of ten Sutherlands were racing after the fleeing Eleven villagers with murderous intent. Their orders were to purge the town of Kariwa after the Britannian owner of the Peach Fields made claims to have been attacking his fields and they were harboring terrorists. The Witch King wasn't pleased in the least since this would cause a large complication to the master's plans, but he couldn't allow their organization to collapse.

However they had the advantage since the Britannian Force pursuing the fleeing villagers were not prepared to engage possible enemies using Sutherlands. After the villagers were escorted inside the captured Sutherlands took up positions behind the buildings of the factory waiting to ambush the approaching Britannian force while out other resistance members readied with sniper rifles to kill the troops on the ground following the enemy Knightmare Frames. Just as the Sutherlands approached the old factory one of the pilots made a rather typical declaration feeling absolutely sure in their superiority.

"Come out of there you damn elevens and we might take your deaths quick and painless."

At that moment the forces of the Witch King attacked firing on the surprised enemy Sutherlands gunning half of them down after catching them completely off guard while his snipers began picking off the Britannian soldiers on the ground behind the Sutherlands. Five of the ten Sutherlands were wiped out while the remaining half began fighting back, but from below a rocket fired from an anti-tank rocket launcher impacted one of the five Sutherlands in the cockpit from behind killing the pilot.

Riding a motorcycle equipped and modified for off-road use the Witch King discarded the rocket launcher it had just used before drawing his sword and conjuring flames to engulf the blade while his fellow Nazgul present at the factory with him entered the fray riding their own motorcycles aiming their own rocket launchers at the remaining Sutherlands.

Two more enemy Sutherlands went down following the Nazgul's surprise attacks, but when the remaining two turned their attention to the Nazgul on the ground they foolishly overlooking the Sutherlands being piloted by the subordinates of the Witch King as they emerged from their hiding place and gunned down the enemy machines as the snipers finished off the remaining ground troops as they attempted to flee.

Having wiped out the pursuing Britannian military the Witch King knew the rest of the soldiers deployed to wipe out the village would now be coming to attack them.

"Are preparations complete?" The Witch King asked speaking into a radio built into the bike he was riding.

"Yes my lord…"

"Order the men to take the weapons of these Sutherland and any intact remains and place them in the appropriate places."

"Yes sir…I believe I know what you are going to do."

Fifteen minutes later the rest of the Britannian forces sent to wipe out the village came in force with a total force of two hundred Sutherlands, seven hundred armed foot soldiers and forty tanks and one hundred armored vehicles ready to assault the factory. Without warning they began firing on the large factory while from inside the warehouses around it Sutherlands could be seen inside firing their weapons blindly at the Britannian forces while what they assumed to be men hiding in different areas of the tower were firing assault rifles at them.

The two Sutherlands were quickly dispatched as seemingly unopposed the Britannian forces march upon the factory as their Sutherlands and ground troops including ninety nine of the one hundred armored vehicles advance upon it while the tanks along with the one hundredth armored vehicle which was a mobile command center for them remained behind with the tanks and two hundred soldiers to guard it.

Suddenly as the Britannian forced charged into the factory tearing into the warehouses looking for hiding Japanese people to slaughter, but to their surprise they found the warehouses empty. Yet the Sutherlands they destroyed didn't appear to have been manned. At that moment the Witch King standing on a hill a safe distance away overlooking the factory that had been his base for one last time before pushing a button a remote control he was holding. In one instant below the factory stored in large quantities in the sewers and underground storage rooms were hundreds of pounds of Liquid Sakuradite that had been collected over the period of two years by the Witch King and his followers for this purpose.

Lelouch had considered the possibility of their base being comprised, although not in this fashion, but the two men knew it could happen and so as a highly effective way to cover up all traces of their presence and to make a ideal trap to wipe out the Britannian forces invading their base. Not how it was originally thought out, but today the trap they had set below their base inspired by Kyoshiro Tohdoh's own tactic used during the Battle of Itsukushima.

Anyone foolishly close to the factory were wiped out, which meant all of the Britannian soldiers sent to purge the village of Kariwa of its Japanese populace were caught in the explosion as even the aftershock of it sent anyone not killed instantly flying. The explosion's shockwave was felt clear to the mansion of the Britannian Noble who owned the Peach Fields causing the windows of his mansion to shatter while bits and pieces of Earth and metal rained down upon his home.

"What in god's name was that?" The Britannian Noble shouted as he fell over as the shockwave from the explosion shook his home. Suddenly the sound of the double doors of his home being broken down were heard as a mob of angry and very vengeful Japanese stormed his mansion with the Witch King and the Nazgul following right behind them.

Nothing stood in their way as the Witch King and his forces had seized victory this evening. The noble man desperately tried to climb out the window to escape, but the angry mob consisting mostly of the survivors from the village seized him before they viciously began beating the man within an inch of his life. The Witch King stood at the door way as the angry villagers got their revenge as they proceeded to beat the man and kick him viciously while on the ground until…he died.

"If thou desire vengeance against Britannia, then follow me…follow me and Japan shall know freedom and independence once more."

The Witch King beckoned as the ranks of his resistance cell swelled with new recruits. After the battle the villagers that survived the liquidation helped the Witch King gather more survivors whom just added to the growing ranks of the Witch King's forces giving him one thousand and one hundred and sixty one new recruits.

As the Witch King and his growing army fled the area Lelouch was fully aware of what had taken place. On the offhand this meant he would have to adjust and adapt his plans accordingly, but at the same time he could not hold his subordinates responsible since they had expected something of this nature to happen just not so soon…and not in such a fashion.

* * *

><p>Despite emerging victorious the aftermath of the battle presented both the Witch King and Lelouch with a problem…they had more men than they could support, so they had to shift from covert guerilla warfare against Britannian to open guerilla warfare against them instead in order to acquire more supplies and weapons for the small army the two found themselves in command of. Not to mention among the villages they have taken in they would have a lot of sick and possibility injured men, women and children. So supplies were in desperate need and time was short and Lelouch knew there was only one opinion open to him. It was risky, but they have to steal a large amount of supplies and materials from one of the larger Britannian bases…specifically speaking a large Division Garrison Base. But there might be another way…but it was a risky gamble as well…regardless he would need to strike at the base.<p>

Caster who had been sitting across from at a black table they were seated at as the two were in the middle of a chess game was concerned.

"Something wrong?"

"I have just been informed of a series of major complications for my plans…I need to acquire additional supplies for the new men the Witch King has suddenly taken in."

"Your men…what happened?"

"The Britannian military had launched an assault on the village of Kariwa near where the Witch King and the rest of the resistance members loyal to our cause had made into his headquarters was comprised after as number of fleeing villagers trying to escape the massacre fled to the factory. The Witch King was successful in defeating them, but we lost the base and now we have roughly two thousand troops to care for as well as arm now."

"Not enough supplies then?"

"Well we do have enough surplus supplies we had stockpiled to tend to this problem temporary, but only a day or two at best if we are lucky…it won't be enough. We can at least care for those who desperately need it more, but then we're faced with a serious problem."

"What do you intend to do?"

"I am going explore every possible opinion and chose the best opinion, but no matter what we'll be fighting Britannia openly now." Lelouch replied as he didn't actually want to openly combat Britannia since it was far too soon before his preparations were complete, but with the scuffle in the Peach Fields the Britannian Government in Area 11 will notice them now.

"I see, so it will be open war then."

"Indeed and it wasn't something I was intending until later…at least until after the Holy Grail war."

"Lelouch-sama…" Sakura spoke as she entered the room the two beings were sitting in talking when she arrived with another woman standing behind her.

"Ah Sakura…I see you were successful in summoning your own servant as well." Lelouch spoke as he eyed the woman curious to know her true identity and what class has she been summoned as. The woman seemed to be in the same age group as Medea, but only she had long light magenta hair that hung all the way down to her feet with a matching colored visor over her eyes and red markings on her forehead. She was currently wearing a modified Greek era short black dress, magenta collar-like stoker, bands and handcuff with long black sleeves on her arms, long-thigh high black boots with magenta armor above her feet.

"Yes I did Lelouch-sama."

"Excellent work Sakura, and what class are you my dear?"

"I am Rider…"

"Rider eh…it's a pleasure."

"Rider, Assassin and Caster, so the classes left to be filled are Archer, Berserker, Saber and Lancer." Caster noted.

"Between us and the Witch King that makes three servants. Rin should be summoning one any day now, so that will be four and at least we'll see one from the Einzbern Family. The other two masters are unknown, but we won't know who they are until the war begins." Lelouch pointed out.

"So when will the war start exactly?" Sakura inquired.

"I thought it was going to start this summer, but it seems the war is going to start a lot sooner than I had expected."

"Why do I sense a _but_ in that?" Caster asked.

"Actually it's probably best the Holy Grail War begins as soon as possible. The sooner that is out of the way the sooner I can focus on dealing with Britannia."

"What about school Lelouch-sama?"

"I can take care of it easily enough…it will be inconvenient, but it shouldn't be a problem. It's a simple matter compared to what I am faced with now in any event."

* * *

><p>The following afternoon Lelouch after a discussion with the academy headmaster was enjoying the rest of his afternoon with Rin as the two were once more engaged in a game between the two, but at least unlike the poker game the two had done last time this game had no humiliating stakes in it. However that statement upon itself was a matter of perspective, and the two teens were about to prove that.<p>

"C-5…" Rin said as a bead of sweat dropped down her forehead.

"Missed" Lelouch replied with a grin before replying. "E-8…"

Rin's face turned red while she cringed before replying. "Hit!"

"Ah I found it…"

"A-10!"

"Missed, E-7!"

"NO, you sunk it!"

"Game over, I win again."

Rin expression of anger suggested the fact that she was ready to launch herself over the table and viciously attack Lelouch while at that moment, in a vain attempt to placate herself, she enjoyed a brief daydream of her happily strangling the life out of him. Ultimately the desire to inflict harm upon Lelouch dominated as the angered Magus began pulling on her hair hard enough to be on the verge of pulling her ponytails off her head.

"We're getting close to that seven hundred mark."Lelouch mused rubbing his victory in Rin's face. "But look on the plus side at least you didn't humiliate yourself like last time."

"I am going to kill you." Rin said with a look that would frighten most men, but Lelouch wasn't frightened of her in the least.

"Hey Lelouch!" Milly called as she entered the room followed by Sakura. "What is this I hear about you leaving for three months?"

"Sorry, but something important has come up. I was hoping to save it until the summer…however that will not be possible. Sakura will be accompanying me as well since she is the head of the Matou Family, so I am counting on you and Sayoko to look after Nunnally for me."

"You can't leave just like that? What about your grades?"

"Not a problem I'll be doing them online, so my grades are not in danger."

"That reminds me I'll be leaving the school for a few months myself." Rin added remembering that the Holy Grail wars were coming up, but like Lelouch she knew it was a lot sooner than everyone had expected.

"WHAT…all three of you?"

"Yes…" Lelouch, Rin and Sakura replied simultaneously.

"So what then…are you guys with Lelouch in a harem or something?"

"WHAT?"

Both Lelouch and Rin shouted together in perfect unison Rin's her face turned beat red while Lelouch rejected the idea as well outright with a look of annoyance on his face while the Tohsaka Magus was outright pissed off at the mere idea.

"I would sooner gouge out my own eyes with spoons and throw myself into a volcano than have anything to do with that bastard!" Rin shouted after rising up out of her chair and slamming her hands on the table in front of her.

"So you say!" Milly shot back with a playful wink while Lelouch was enjoying the scene unfolding before him.

"Anyway as much as I would love to stay and chat I have some preparations that I need to take care of before Sakura and I must leave for Fuyuki City." Lelouch said as he stood up from the chair he had been seated in as he proceeded to leave the room with Sakura following close behind.

"Do you think things between Sakura and Lelouch…are…you know?" Milly asked once the two were gone.

"What are you implying?" Rin said while she had a pretty good idea, but she didn't dare go there because she did not want to envision the idea of it in her mind.

"You must be jealous I mean those two must be going out or something? I just wonder how far their relationship has already...developed."

Rin's face turned bright red with both anger and embarrassment at the unpleasant image she tried NOT to conjure up in her own mind appeared thanks to Milly's words and ideas she had been pitching causing the unpleasant mental imagine of Sakura and Lelouch in a _imitate__relationship_ to appear in her mind. It was indeed not something she really wanted to think about.

"Damn it Milly!" Rin screamed as she struggled desperately to purge the unholy thought from her mind. "You're a sick woman!"

The Student Council President began laughing at the damage she managed to inflict upon poor Rin wondering for all of that anger and bitterness at losing to him so much that she was developing feelings for the young man…and she absolutely did not want to admit it.

Or so Milly thought.

* * *

><p>Later that evening as Lelouch, Sakura and Nunnally were having dinner together, which would much to the poor girl's sadness would be the last one she would have with her brother for a time. Naturally of course this left the ash-blonde girl both sad and upset at her brother since she would be worrying about him. The black haired youth steeled himself for the onslaught of tears and worry from the little girl that Lelouch knew would come this night.<p>

"Brother I can't believe you'll be gone for so long." A very depressed Nunnally began with tears forming her eyes while looking heartbreakingly sad, but yet undeniably cute at the same time.

"I am sorry Nunnally, but it's something Sakura and I have to do."

"I know, but why for so long?"

"If everything goes well we'll be back sooner."

"But I'll miss you and Sakura brother?"

"We'll be back as soon as we can Nunnally." Sakura added trying to help Lelouch reassure the young girl.

"You have no need to worry, Sakura and I will be fine and you'll have Sayoko to take care of you." Lelouch pointed out while he recalled a conversation between him and the Japanese maid the two had earlier.

"_As you know Sakura and I will be gone for a time, so I will be counting on you to protect Nunnally." _

"_I understand…"_

"_I have granted you a ring of power for this purpose, but I hope you will have no need of its power." _

"_I shall protect her Lelouch-sama." _

Sayoko was among those who actually knew Lelouch was in fact the Dark Lord Sauron reincarnated and she had joined him willingly, but the only tasks he called upon her mostly was to protect Nunnally. With the Holy Grail wars coming up the young man considered the possibility that if his human identity was exposed then there was a real danger Nunnally could be kidnapped to be used against him.

Like some of the new rings he had made Sayoko's humanity would be preserved while it would enhance her strength and capabilities beyond that of a human and even grant her the ability to phase into the spirit world granting her invisibility. The ring was linked to his will of course through the One Ring, so if Nunnally was in danger he would know about it through Sayoko.

Standing on the other side of the wall in the kitchen quietly observing them while eavesdropping was Medea who was leaning against the wall deep in thought as her master had proven to be quite interesting indeed, but yet given what he was and what kind of man he was portraying himself to be now she was growing more curious about what was going on inside Lelouch's head.

She remembered a dream she had due to the servant and master connection she saw a glimpse into the memories of Lelouch vi Britannia, former prince of the Holy Britannian Empire. His mother had been brutally assassinated when he was a mere nine years old and his sister was left paralyzed when the same bullets that killed their mother crippled her as well.

The resulting trauma of having been with her mother when she was killed took away her eye sight as well.

Not long after that after Marianne vi Britannia's funeral the young man confronted his father over the matter as to why he didn't do anything to protect her. The result of that was horrible for the young man indeed as his own father the Emperor, Charles zi Britannia, coldly rebuked his own son and as a result of throwing away his right to the throne both he and his sister were banished to Japan to be used as political hostages.

The prince and princess were reduced to nothing more than mere bargaining tools to be used and then deposed of, which according to Lelouch was likely the Emperor's intentions since an assassination attempt was made against them a few months before the war began as relations between Japan and Britannia were breaking down.

Of course during that time in Japan he regained his powers and his memories of his former life as the Dark Lord Sauron.

'_It's mostly revenge, but…yet…'_

Medea thought as she rationalized the young man wanted revenge for what had befallen he and his sister and quite frankly the woman couldn't blame him. She had remembered the painful betrayal she had endured when Jason abandoned her for another woman just for his own political gains. Just like Lelouch she too sought revenge and she got it.

Yet she knew there was something else driving Lelouch and that became clear the previous night when she had observed Lelouch and Nunnally together eating. It was during desert that Nunnally revealed that she had been learning how to make origami by Sayoko which has allowed her to make, flowers, birds and all kinds of creations.

During that conversation Nunnally held up one of her creations…a pink origami crane.

"_You know Miss Sayoko told me that if you make a thousand your wishes will come true…is there anything you are wishing for brother?" _

"_No thanks…not really, but what about you…is there something you wish for?" _

_The girl considered it for a moment before she replied. _

"_I want the world to be kinder place." _

_Lelouch smiled as he took a moment to consider his own next words carefully before saying. _

"_I am sure it will be…by the time you open your eyes again you will see that kind world before you." _

"_Really…you think so?" _

"_Don't worry that world will come I promise." _

Medea remembered the conversation wondering if that is what Lelouch is ultimately aiming for, reshaping the entire world for the sake of that girl. It left the spell caster wondering if it was something from his past life driving that action or more so his current life or maybe it was both. Her mind began once more wondering more about the young man as she also wondered what the Maiar, Sauron, was like back in the early days of his life…the beginning.

The temptation got the better of her so she decided to peer into his mind looking deep into the memories of the Dark Lord Sauron as she saw his birth…born from the thoughts of the one god, the creator, Eru along with the rest of his brethren. In her mind's eye she saw a glorious gathering of all of the Maiar and Valar alike in attendance before their creator, together they were Ainur the holy ones off-springs of his thoughts.

Yet what she found puzzling was the fact that Sauron wasn't known as Sauron back then, but rather by another name.

'_Mairon__…'_

The one before them and declared to them a mighty theme, showing them things greater and more wonderful than the creator had revealed to them; the glory of its beginning and the splendor of its end amazed the Ainur, so after the theme had ended they bowed and were silent as the one spoke to them.

"_Of the theme that I have declared to you, I will now that ye make in harmony together a Great Music. And since I have kindled you with the Flame Imperishable, ye shall show forth your powers in adorning this theme, each with his own thoughts and devices, if he will. But I will sit and hearken, and be glad that through you great beauty has been wakened into song."_

Then Caster saw in her mind the large numbers of the Ainur, their numbers were far beyond her ability to count them all, a countless and picturesque choirs singing. Their voices were beautiful and heartwarming as Medea witnessed them fashion the theme of Iluvatar into a great music composed of endless interchanging melodies woven perfectly into perfect harmony…the music was pure perfection. The music was such that as it passed beyond hearing into the depths and to heights as the dwelling of the one was filled and overflowing as it echoed out into the void.

The music was miraculous beyond all comprehension.

Yet as she listened she noticed a disruption…something feeling out of place, a growing discord within the song. Caster searched the gathered Ainur, but by pure luck she found the source of the discord. An Ainur who was beautiful and mighty and greatest among them judging from Sauron's memories, Medea knew who he was…Melkor.

The greatest and strongest among the Ainur who had been given more knowledge and greater power as well among his brethren, but yet in his mind after wandering the void seeking the Flame Imperishable seeking to create life himself possessed thoughts different from his fellow Ainur. The discord of Melkor continued to grow until in place of harmony a raging storm between the themes began.

"Enjoying what you are seeing?"

Medea gasped as she opened her eyes looking to her right seeing Lelouch standing there.

"Master, forgive me I didn't mean to peer into your memories without permission I was curious."

"Curiosity killed the cat Medea, but if you were curious about my origins you could have just asked me. I would have been more than happy to relate a story or two." Lelouch explained as he walked past the servant to put the tea pot he was holding into the sink, filling it with water and soap to soak for a time, before turning to face the woman.

"I humbly apologize, but that music…"

"Yes the great music that I and my brethren all took part in before the creator at the beginning. It was beautiful as you saw, but sadly the best among us decided to weave his own thoughts into the music that wasn't part of the original intended theme to increase his own glory. His name was Melkor and he sought to increase his own glory, but as a result of his actions…the discord he caused…the music raged like a storm with the theme Melkor had created and the theme set forth by Eru clashed almost violently until after a time Eru halt the music completely after he had intervened twice introducing additional themes and trying to stop the discord Melkor had created, but on the third time he intervened he stopped the music completely." Lelouch explained.

"But what happened next?"

"Melkor was lectured before all of his on his foolishness to increase his own glory and for attempting to alter the theme of the great music, because he was not permitted to do such a thing and now we were made to see what our music had created."

"Created? You mean?"

"Yes…Eru led us into the void where we beheld the birth of the world that would be one day called Earth and thanks to Melkor the battle between good and evil would be played out upon its surface."

"The great music created the world?" A surprised Medea inquired.

"Indeed…do not think lightly on the power of song, especially among my people."

"After what I have witnessed I will dare not to."

"Then you have learned a valuable lesson…come with Medea we still have some work to do this evening. I have dispatched the Nazgul to conduct an important mission, or more of a test."

"What do you mean?"

"I plan on stealing supplies from Central District Headquarters and I will do so without engaging the local garrison there, but I need to test out a spell…if it works then I'll have the means to succeed."

"What kind of spell?"

An evil grin appeared on Lelouch's face.

"How about I show you?"

* * *

><p>In a corner of the Tokyo Settlement riding inside a large helicopter flying above the skyscrapers of the city, a pilot and a co-pilot were behind the controls of the craft, but in the rear passenger section the Witch King along with three of the other Nazgul. The four Ringwraiths were ready to jump from the craft, but the Witch King had other ideas first and one of them was the casting of a powerful illusion spell, but this was quite different and powerful in a different way.<p>

Once the spell was cast a light blue barrier appeared over the entire building the helicopter was hovering over along with a good section of the ground around it. After it was done the Nazgul following the Lord of the Nazgul leapt from the aircraft free falling to the skylight of the penthouse roof of the building below them.

Below the skylight a group of three men were having a private business conversation. The men were leaders within the Britannia Mafia which of course had powerful influence in the criminal underworld in Area 11. It was interrupted when the Witch King followed by the other Nazgul came crashing through the skylight smashing the table below upon impact.

The men completely ignored them allowing the Nazgul led by the Witch King to begin slaughtering them; they didn't put up any resistance. Once they were done with the Mafia leaders the Nazgul moved on wiping out all life in the penthouse. Watching through the palantir Medea was stunned at how easily the Nazgul were annihilating the mafia and their men with ridiculous ease especially since everyone was completely ignoring them despite all of the drying screams and screeching of the Nazgul echoing around the building.

Lelouch was completely pleased by the results.

"What kind of spell did you have your servant cast over that building?"

"It's a kind of Memory Manipulation Spell, but on a far stronger and more potent level. This spell as its name suggests create a powerful effect that causes people to ignore matters that are generally important to a group but may not seem specifically important to the individual, but this spell takes it much further making them outright ignore everything happening around them."

"What is the spell called?"

"SEP Field Spell, which is short for Somebody Else's Problem Field Spell."

"That's…that's it?"

"Yes…something wrong?"

"It doesn't seem like a very creative name."

"Well excuse me…" Lelouch replied with a mocking smile, "but I think it's simple and not only easy to remember the name alone perfectly explains the spell's effect."

"Granted despite a creative name your spell is quite effective."

"Indeed and I may have use for it during the Holy Grail war as well too."

Inside the penthouse the Nazgul stood inside the large spacious living room as the floors were littered with bodies, all of them having met a sudden grisly end at the hands of the Ringwraiths. Dropping some bits of evidence and magically altering the security recordings the entire incident would be rubbed off as an incident of random violence.

Of course aside their swords the Nazgul used automatic rifles to wipe out the majority of the people in the penthouse.

But that wasn't all as there would be some evidence planted by the Nazgul to make it appear others within the Mafia had attempted to seize power for themselves and so setting the stage for a violent power struggle as others would attempt to claim leadership over the Britannian Mafia in Area 11, so they would be kept out of Lelouch's way when he begins moving to overthrow Britannian Rule in Area since the Mafia had benefited greatly due to Britannia's occupation which has allowed their businesses both illegal and legit to blossom.

They would obvious have the most to lose with Britannian being overthrown and so would likely try to hinder Lelouch, so he eliminated them as a problem since the insuring power struggle would weaken them.

Although they might try to hinder him in one way or another, but with the power struggle his slaughter carried out by his Nazgul servants would ignite will leave their ability to hinder and interfere against him diminished considerably. To such that any trouble they could cause him would be minimal at best, but he would continue to weaken the mafia in any way he can just the same.

'_Crushing __the __Mafia __would __give __me __more __public __support __from __the __Japanese.__'_

The board was almost set and Lelouch was poised to make the first move. The Holy Grail War would soon be upon him.

* * *

><p>AN: And so due to unforeseen complications Lelouch and the Witch King have a much larger group to tend to now forcing the Dark Lord's hand to gather and amass more supplies and weapons quickly. Even with his new spell the risks are high his upcoming raid could fail, but we shall see as Lelouch heads out with Sakura and their servants to Fuyuki City and the Witch King expected to catch up later with his servant.

I thought for this story I decided to use someone different for assassin, so browsing through Badass of the Week, more specifically The Hall of Badassitude where I picked out a certain bad ass ninja from the 16th, possibly one of THE most bad ass ninjas to have ever lived. I tried to make his design original and yet with traditional ninja gear, but nothing too specific to reveal his identity and such.

Just be thankful he didn't decide to summon Lu Bu or worse yet Chuck Norris lol.

But joking aside I might be two weeks with the next chapter due to the holiday season, but I will be also trying to update my other stories as well. Anyway thank you all for the reviews and the feedback and keep them coming it really helps.


	6. Chapter 6 The Holy Grail War

A/N: Happy New Year (albeit late lol) everyone…to kick off the new year here is an update to the story with the war now ready to get underway Lelouch has his Ringwraiths take care of a final issue before he can focus his attention on the war, so anyway please enjoy the chapter and drop a few or two.

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

The Holy Grail War

Later that afternoon of the following day at Fuyuki City Train Station; Lelouch and Sakura disembarked the early morning express train they had taken to travel from the Tokyo Settlement clear to Fuyuki City where the Fifth Holy Grail War would be fought. They still had time to prepare so after their arrival they caught a cab and went straight to the Matou Mansion.

Once the driver was paid the two young teens entered the mansion and proceeded to unload their bags as Sakura and Lelouch went to their respective rooms while their servants appeared behind them having assumed spirit form during the course of their journey across Japan from the Tokyo Settlement. Caster stood behind her master as he unloaded his suitcase.

"Tonight the Ringwraiths will attack the Central District Garrison Base, one of the largest military bases in Area 11 right?"

"Yes…"

"Then you intend to use the SEP field spell again and you plan to rob them blind."

"More or less, but I needed a few days so that we can prepare to alter the video recordings at the base so we can leave the Britannians scratching their heads and panicking. They'll waste time trying to figure out what has happened."

"Are you sure it will go just like that?"

"Maybe not, but we have to…the supplies we had have been used up and we have two thousand people to support. We were lucky we made them last as long as we did." Lelouch said as he knew in the back of his mind this operation had to succeed otherwise he ran the risk of losing most of the followers he and the Witch King had gathered under their banner.

"As for the Grail War..." Medea inquired.

"I'll win it and destroy the grail completely using its destruction as the final component to complete my ultimate blade…then I will destroy Britannia."

* * *

><p>Later that night as the moon was hovering high in the sky shinning its pale light down upon the Central Division Garrison Base was the center for a major part of Britannia's military power in the Area 11 located near Mt. Fuji, otherwise the general who was over the Middle B Precinct. It was commanded by an incompetent and pathetic excuse for a general like a number of the generals who commanded each of the five Precincts of Area 11.<p>

Lurking in an alleyway near the base's wall was the Witch King, saw the nodding head of one of his subordinates informing him it was a quarter pass ten, so the time for the operation had come. Stepping out of the truck he emerged from the alleyway as he held his arms up to the sky and began chanting the spell required for the Somebody Else's Problem field spell as a light blue field of magic briefly appeared over the entire base including a few blocks surrounding it as the base sat on the edge of Fujinomiya city in the Shizuoka Prefecture.

Once the field was in place the Witch King walked up to the front gate completely bypassing the guards who ignored him despite his aura of terror which only reflected how powerful the spell was. Once he had opened the main gate twelve trucks carrying a total of over two hundred men while others entering the base on foot began to pour into the base.

The Witch King hurried to one of the supply warehouses on the base and began opening it up for three of the twelve trucks to enter as some of its passengers jumped off and began quickly loading the truck with supplies with everything from military rations, medical supplies and weapons. Other men began repeating the same process in the other supply warehouses next door to the one the Witch King was in as other men made their way to the Knightmare Frame hangers where they began hijacking many of the stationary Sutherlands using ghost activation keys, but they sadly weren't able to acquire enough ghost keys before hand to steal them all.

But they would still be able to make off with quite a number of Sutherlands by the time their raid was finished.

Throughout it the men of the base completely ignored everything that was happening as more Japanese people stole everything they could get their hands on hijacking Britannia Military supply trucks and loading them with all weapons and supplies they could get their hands on. Once a truck was full they fled with a few of the stolen Sutherlands now being piloted by a subordinate of the Witch King providing escort.

As the men carried out their assigned tasks the Witch King himself entered the main administrative building of the base and began making his way to the General's office to personally acquire any valuable documents, intelligence reports, information on troop movements and deployment, and of course anything of potential use to his dark master.

The Witch King met no resistance as he along with two other subordinates followed him to the General's office where they walked in after unlocking the door from the outside, but what awaited them inside was an unsettling sight.

On the desk was the so called vigilant general of the base in the naked embrace of a woman with long blonde hair. Obvious both of them were not only naked, but they were in the middle of sexual activities. The two Japanese man and woman accompanying the Witch King fought off the strong urge of wanting to kill the love making couple in front of them, but the Lord of the Nazgul eyed the room carefully saw the remains of the woman's clothes and noticed the style and fabric used on a light blue ball gown that seemed far too pricey for even a high-class prostitute to possess.

Not to mention the jewelry left on the ground such as necklaces and bracelets and such acted as indicators that this woman was likely a member of nobility.

Examining a photo frame that appeared to have oddly of all things a wedding picture that had the general standing next to a woman different to the one the general was with provided enough proof that the woman wasn't his wife. It also helped that it was very unlikely for a general and his wife to engage in such activities inside his own office, so it further reinforced the obvious suspicion that they had just caught the general on this base cheating on his wife.

After quickly communicating with his master on the unexpected _scene _they have come across the Dark Lord gave the Witch King a new set of instructions.

"You there, Kasumi was it, use the camera we brought along with us…take some photos of that…scene and maybe sure you get good shots of their faces for identification."

"You mean…for blackmail?"

"Of course…"

"I understand sir." The female resistance member replied as she drew out the camera and with some hesitation as Kasumi was repulsed by the scene before her began taking snap shot of the two making sure to get good shots of their faces in each shot.

As the female Japanese completed her unpleasant task the Witch King and his other subordinate went over to the General's safe deciding to hit it first since the general's desk was currently inaccessible at the moment. A simple spell took care of the lock as the Witch King with the help of his assistant began shifting through the papers and classified documents they pulled out. Lying them on the floor the woman returned with the camera while looking a little green, but the man wasn't much better as the sounds the blonde haired Britannian woman and the general were making wasn't helping.

They quickly completed their task capturing high definition snapshots of every document inside of the safe before putting all of the documents back exactly where they had found them before leaving the room preparing to move onto the intelligence offices on the floors below them where they would find any kind of documents of value to them.

As the Witch King made his way to the intelligence office to seize anything useful a call on the radio came in.

"My lord…we found something in a secured building in the East wing."

"What is it?"

"It's some kind of lab, some type of human experiment…it might be better if you saw it for yourself."

"Very well…" The Witch King replied turning to his two men. "Go on ahead and rendezvous with the others and steal whatever can be of use to us."

"Yes sir…" The two subordinates replied with a sharp salute before the trio spilt up with the Lord of the Nazgul making his way to the east wing of the building. Six minutes later the Nazgul Lord entered what appeared to be a lab of some kind, but it had an unorthodox set up. No one was present in the lab save for the men loyal to the Witch King, it was obviously likely the researchers that had occupied this lab had gone home for the night.

The lab itself was fairly small with three oddly shaped containers which looked more akin to misshapen bulky water heaters. One of his subordinates approached the Witch King, after a salute, the man spoke explaining what they had found.

"It's some kind of privately run lab…we had to force our way in, but so far it seems only the general of this base and apparently the Viceroy himself is aware of this and is also the one sponsoring it." The man replied as he held some documents he had been looking over providing some details on the operation of this lab. It helped since a letter from the Viceroy was found on the desk of one of the researchers.

"I see…what are inside those containers?"

"Two of them are empty, but the third one contains a young woman…she is apparently their Guinea Pig, the subject of their research. According to these notes she is supposed to be immortal or something, but a lot of this I can't even begin to wrap my mind around...it's hard to understand."

"I see…" The Witch King said while he was carefully considering his options as he was also mentally communicating with his master who was seeing the lab through the palantir. "Bring one of the trucks…we'll take it along with all of the research materials."

"Yes sir…you there get one of the trucks to that loading dock."

Over an hour later at least fifty one stolen trucks full of supplies, plus one containing a certain capsule, left the base along with eighty Sutherlands with the last of the original twelve trucks being the last to leave with the Witch King leaving the base after not only robbing them blind, effectively cleaning out their supplies and taking weapons, explosives and anything that would be of valuable use to them.

After switching out their recordings of the last hour with a modified clip while erasing what had happened when the Witch King and his subordinates entered the base leaving no trace of their presence. The spell last for another hour which was long enough for the Witch King and his men to make their escape having successfully pulled off their bloodless raid of the base.

They had raided the base blind and escaped Scott free, but Lelouch knew this would likely draw the attention of the both the Church and the Magus Association. Yet at the moment neither side had any leads that would point to him since the Dark Lord was careful to cover up his actions and the men that had accompanied the Witch King had sworn to secretly on the matter and if any who didn't seem trustworthy would have their memories slightly modified or be given a ring of power if the situation demands it to ensure their silence is kept.

Although the Witch King and Lelouch doubted they would betray him given that the Witch King alone had saved their lives from Britannia and now he was proving to be someone who was more capable of actually liberating Japan from the Holy Britannian Empire. In fact some rumors of the Witch King's actions from a few nights ago were already beginning to slowly circulate around Japan.

It was bothersome, but Lelouch considered that it was for the best since maybe it was time Japan met a hero who would be the one to begin the revolution in Japan to trail-blaze the path of rebellion that was coming. Besides that matter the capsule they found at the base intrigued him…if the Viceroy was involved then it must be something of great importance to him.

The Dark Lord's curiosity into that research involving an immortal girl was piqued.

* * *

><p>At the moment Lelouch was seated inside a private study room, but this was not within the Matou Mansion. No it was within a castle sitting on the outskirts of Fuyuki City, built on one of the major leylines upon which that runs under Mount Enzou where the Ryuudouji Temple stands. The temple is also keystone of the Fuyuki leylines as it had been built over a fallen leyline making it the heart of Fuyuki spiritual grounds. Not to mention in a large cavern in the same area is where Greater Holy Grail was created also resides within the mountain.<p>

Lelouch had discovered the three-kilometer in diameter cavern beneath the mountain where he found the Great Grail, rather its core to be more precise. Using notes and materials he had found after killing Zouken he discovered its core and learned about how the grail was created. Upon examining the cavern the Dark Lord was impressed by the complexity of designing such a system. The Greater Grail was the core of the system and the Holy Grail is what started it up.

In the center he found a woman, a homunculus, named Lizleihi Justica von Einzbern. She was mentioned in Zouken's notes as one who had helped designed the entire system for the Holy Grail and Greater Grail while becoming its core to create the Heaven's Feel system. In order to tap those leylines, Lelouch assisting the Witch King used a complex spell combing advance projection spells and territory creation, using the leyline to amplify the spells, as an experiment to recreate Minas Morgul, the Tower of Black Sorcery or otherwise the Dead City.

Having recreated it in a valley in the wilderness behind Mount Enzou while concealed within a bounded field to hide its existence from the world the rebuilt fortress city was being prepared to serve as stronghold for Lelouch and the Nazgul to direct their war against Britannia while at the same time serve as a safe haven for Nunnally and those close to Lelouch if need be.

Safely hidden from the world within the bounding field cast to hide the castle the Dark Lord was pleased when the castle was finally reconstructed successfully, but Lelouch and the Witch King did more than simply recreate Minas Morgul. On the outside the dreaded dwelling of the Nazgul appeared as it did eons ago, but on the inside it was a different story. Furthermore throughout the fortress city they also provided it with modern conveniences such as bathrooms, running water, lighting, and electricity with the castle tapping electric power from Fuyuki City.

Minas Morgul in short had an internal modern-day renovation which also included the introduction of security systems such as cameras and motion sensors in conjunction with a dangerous combination of magical security and protection measures. In the study Lelouch spent his time at large drafting board refining an engineering drawing of a new component part for a Knightmare Frame while on his laptop computer sitting on his desk he had molecular read out and a composition table set up along with detailed instructions on creating a new artificial alloy he has been working on to help in his own war effort down the road.

It went without saying the knowledge Sauron had of substances he inherited from Aule the Smith during his time under him before joining Morgoth kept proving to be invaluable to him.

He knew early on in order to combat Britannia he would need Knightmare Frames to be made up of his primary force, but producing them would be costly and difficult. Although the Dark Lord was sure he could obtain a productive means to produce his own machines as opposed to stealing them from the Britannians. Yet cost and resources were going to be a problem so to remedy that somewhat Lelouch had been working on coming up with a cheap, easy to produce, but highly effective metallic alloy for Knightmare Frames that he would produce in the future once he has the means and the faculties. He struggled to artificially create Mithril, but it was not only far too expensive it was also almost impossible to produce artificially.

However during his attempts to devise a way to produce artificial Mithril he did produce a light metallic alloy, but it was more durable than current armor plating used in Knightmare Frame production making it ideal for such proposes while not as costly to produce. Now the only problem that remained was to acquire faculties of his own to build his own Knightmare Frames.

"Don't you ever sleep?"

A voice behind him inquired as Lelouch looked over his shoulder and saw Medea standing there.

"I don't need it unless I want to or if I need to regain my strength should I exhaust myself."

"What exactly are you up to then Master?"

"I am working on technical designs for new weapons I want to produce for our resistance movement especially now that I have figured out a cheap, easy to produce metallic alloy that is more resilient than any currently existing armor plating found on current Knightmare Frames so it should reduce the cost of producing them."

"You are planning quite far ahead."

"There still some important preliminary conditions that will have to be cleared first, but another issue is finding faculties and engineers to design and produce Knightmare Frames. I have some ideas, but I would like to acquire someone who is more of a specialist in Knightmare Frames as it were to further refine them."

"Makes sense, but how did your raid go?"

"It went off without a hitch, but the Witch King informs me that he found something's unexpected…yet they could prove useful in the coming war."

"I see, but has the Holy Grail War started yet?"

"No, because not all seven masters are present and have yet to summon their servants as well?"

"What about Rin?"

"Rin has summoned her servant, although it was a rather violent summoning apparently. I don't know what happened exactly, but her summoning spell didn't seem to have been working properly."

"You saw her summon her servant?"

"Through the palantir I did, but I don't recognize the true identity of her servant. I know he's an Archer class, but that's about all I have discovered."

"So that brings the total of masters who have summoned their servants up to four then?"

"Indeed so that means three more masters must summon their servants to begin the war, but yet I have to discover any of the other masters or other servants lurking in the city."

"It's possible some of them might be from out of town, conducting the summoning outside of Fuyuki."

"That's true, but even then I should have been able to see them. Even if they conceal themselves within the spirit world I'll see them just the same. I haven't seen anyone enter the Einzbern Castle yet, so the Einzbern Master likely hasn't arrived yet."

"In short you still have time for preparations and any issues you tend to take care of."

"Pretty much and I'll take the opportunity to do so."

Suddenly the Dark Lord sensed something as if he just became aware of something that directed his attention.

"Master…what is it?"

"Someone has slipped on the ring I had given Nero, the vampire I beaten into submission at Hotel Century some time ago. However not long afterwards I felt his death through the ring he had on his finger killed by an interesting young human who possessed supernatural powers of some kind."

"Did the boy who killed him put it on?"

"No…this is someone else. Their mind is rather odd, but yet I am having some difficulty making sense of it."

"What will you do?"

"I have suppressed the ring's powers since his death to avoid anyone activating its power by accident, but now that she has it on I'll wait until she goes to sleep to enter her mind and see who she is and what connection she has to that boy."

"Depending on whom it is…what will you do?"

"I'll do nothing, but expect maybe use her as a means of intelligence gathering and surveillance, mostly to keep me posted on events in Misaki Town at the very least from a civilian's perspective."

"At this time of night shouldn't have most people gone to sleep?"

"True, but for some reason or another...this one was apparently snooping around the boy's room where he had been keeping the ring. I am assuming he had picked it up after Chaos was killed."

"What if it's a thief?"

"Somehow I doubt it, but even so she would be useful to me either way."

"I know you can read minds already, but to probe another mind so far away?"

"I could do so without the ring on her finger, but in order for me to do so at this distance I need something to act as a link between us. In this case the ring on her finger and the One Ring I possess which by its creation the powers of all rings of power including the newer lesser rings I have made have their powers bound to the Master Ring."

"I see, so it's a booster signal for your ability to read minds then?"

"I guess that's a good way to put it."

"Alright, but there is something else I have been meaning to ask you?"

"Go ahead…"

"Your Nazgul servants, specifically the Witch King aren't you worried their appearances might turn the people against you being something if not akin to evil spirits? Especially given the fame the Witch King has been making for himself."

The Dark Lord mentally slapped himself for overlooking such an obvious fact. True those close to the Witch King knew the truth, but many of their new recruits didn't and given his usage of magic Lelouch knew their curiosity was likely increasing. One part of his mind doubted it, but yet…given what he could lose if they did the Dark Lord had to do something.

Fortunately a plan was forming in his mind, but if he could make it work then perhaps he could swiftly resolve that issue as well as lay in plans for prevention should the need arise. He couldn't do anything about it right this second, so he moved onto investigating the mind of the latest bearer of one of his lesser rings of power.

"You have a point, but I won't be able to do anything about it now. I'll investigate the girl's mind…do you wish to tag along?"

"Me…?" Medea asked while raising an eyebrow.

"Yes…who else could I be talking to?"

Caster shrugged her shoulders thinking why not since she didn't really have anything better to do.

"Alright…this might prove to be interesting."

The two took a seat at a round table in one corner of the room as Medea took hold of Lelouch's hand before closing her eyes while Lelouch whispered a chant in an ancient forgotten tongue before the next time she opened her eyes she found herself in an odd space, a long hallway full of doors with pink wallpaper.

"Is this her mind?"

"Yes…"Lelouch said as he appeared standing next to her wearing his spiked suit of armor minus the helmet. "This mind seems straight forward, but it seems this person is trying to hide something from others, herself or both."

The Dark Lord explained as he noticed some of the wall paper was loose which revealed broken and rotted holes in the once pristine white walls.

"Was this a power you had before?"

"No…this was something new I was able to do, so I spent time trying it out on the students within the school since they are close prolixity of me."

"I see, so aside from probing minds you can enter them as well."

"Yes...as you can see and based on what I have learned that the appearance of the interior of mind I enter is based on a number of factors such as the psychology of the person and unconsciousness characteristics."

"Interesting, so what exactly are you looking for?"

"I am going to determine who exactly I am dealing with and see if I can find any information of use to me." Lelouch stopped in front of a pink door with a sign on the door marked: Fears. "Let's start here…knowing a person's fears helps me understand their mind's workings."

Lelouch opened the door and the duo had expected something frightening and terrifying like a masked serial killer or a scary monsters of some kind, but instead a pint-size figure was standing inside the tiny room. It wore a white sweat shirt, a long plum skirt, black leggings and shoes with long blonde hair. Cat ears and cat-like facial features including red eyes, but overall she looked like a freakish cat cartoon character.

"Nyan, Nyan, Nyan, Nyan…Nyan!" Neko-Arc exclaimed upon seeing the two figures outside the door.

Medea and Lelouch raised their eyebrows even with the Dark Lord double checking the tag on the door making sure this was the door leading into the part of her mind where her fears were.

"Is that it? Why would this girl be afraid of some stupid looking cat?" Medea inquired while Lelouch was admittedly as perplexed as she was.

"How dare you call me a stupid cat you wimpy witch, but you are just some secondary character that never lasts long!" Neko-Arc snapped.

"WHAT?" Medea shot back as a bulging vein appeared on her head.

"You're just a useless background character in the series just as you are likely going to be in this fanfic you old hag." Neko-Arc declared breaking the fourth wall. Medea was outright enraged by the creature's words because she was called both a witch and an old hag, which was horribly insulting to her obviously. In an instant she unleashed her most devastating anti-army spells on the small creature blasting it before slamming the door shut.

"I suppose she was fearful of that creature because of how annoying it could be?" Lelouch said finding that to be the only conclusion he could come to unless the woman was actually afraid of human-like cats, or both.

"Maybe, but what kind of mind does this woman have to be afraid of something like that?"

"Good question, let's find out."

Proceeding deeper into the woman's mind the duo came across a door labeled **Dream**, so the two decided to proceed inside and meet the woman herself. Upon entering Medea was troubled by the bizarre nature of the world they had seemingly walked into, but Lelouch seemed unfazed by it all as he proceeded inside without any hesitation.

Inside was quite unusual; it was like a mad scientist lab with on one side rows of what seemed to robotic maids, female robotic maids wearing the same uniform and short cut pink hair. Ahead on the other side of the room the duo found a pair standing in the lab. The girl was a young sixteen year old girl with reddish pink hair, amber colored eyes wearing a brown kimono with an apron worn over it and a blue ribbon tied into a bow on the back of her head.

In front of her was one of her robotic creations obviously, but while she almost seemed like a mechanical twin of the woman.

"Mecha-Hisui-Chan it seems we have intruders…please welcome them."

"Repeating orders…engage intruders, destroy on sight."

"Stand behind me Medea…I'll handle this." Lelouch ordered as Mecha-Hisui prepared to blast the duo with the built-in flamethrowers concealed in her arms. Jets of flame shot out at the two, but Medea watched as the Dark Lord held out his hand as she witnessed him seemingly draw the flames to gather into an invisible sphere floating above the palm of his armored hand.

"Attack ineffective, changing tactics, now resuming attack."

Changing from flamethrowers to missile launchers the robotic maid was ready to blow away the Dark Lord, but Lelouch hurled the compressed sphere of flame he had made at his robotic foe releasing it upon Mecha-Hisui infecting serve damage to the machine. To ensure it is finished off and eliminated as a possible threat the Dark Lord drew his new sword and brought it down upon the damaged robot cleaving it in half.

"MECHA-HISUI-CHAN!" The female maid cried out hurrying to what remained of her robot creation, but she didn't have much time to mourn as the Dark Lord approached her stopping until his towering armored form was standing over her.

"I see, so you're the woman who has found one of my rings…the one I gave to that Dead Apostle. Have you noticed when you put the ring on you become invisible to all eyes?"

"A magic ring?"

"That's right…why not try thinking of ways to make use of it." Lelouch said while Medea quietly observed realizing the Dark Lord had something in mind as he was obviously trying to encourage the young girl to use the ring for her own purposes. "I am sure you would have some fun with it."

Leaving the girl with an idea to ponder Lelouch and Medea left as they were back inside Minas Morgul again with the servant wondering did her master achieve what he had intended. Lelouch had a grin on his face as he began speaking.

"I see…she's a maid of the Tohno Family. On the surface even before the war the family as a whole was a major player in the business world in Japan, but afterwards they became Honorary Britannians very easily while maintaining considerable wealth sill due to connections and assets they possess. But underneath the surface they are largely a family full of half-demons."

"Half-demons…how did you find out?"

"I read that young girl's mind when we encountered her dream form inside that room. Her self-image within her dream provided an easier means allowing me to easily browse her memories without having to find the room containing them. I learned everything including the horrific past she has buried beneath all of that cheerfulness she projects to hide the pain. But there is another reason for it…she does it for the sake of her twin sister who stopped smiling and displaying emotions as a result of learning about the cruelty she endured."

"Was she a slave?" Medea inquired.

"No…something worse than that you can say. I already knew a little about the difficulties some half-demon families have at maintaining their sanity due to the demonic blood coursing through their bodies. I knew about some families existed, but I admit I wasn't one hundred percent certain of their status after the war. However that girl wasn't a half demon, but rather a human born with a unique ability…she's a Synchronizer."

"What kind of ability is that?"

"To put it plainly they can provide energy to others through the exchange of bodily fluids such as drinking their blood, but…the most effective method is intercourse." Lelouch replied while he stopped after those words as Medea realized what horrific experiences the woman had now likely endured. "I doubt I need to explain in detail what she likely endured…an old bastard, the Tohno Family head, used her to keep his demonic blood in check. Thankfully for her the bastard is dead now, but this happened when she was a child so the damage is already done."

"Then her sister…"

"She was spared thanks to Kohaku's pleas, but her sister couldn't quietly accept what had befallen her sister so her emotions died in a sense. That robot we saw in her dream was something of a representation of what she is now…at least to Kohaku. The bright colors hiding the ruined wreckage beneath signify the pain she has been hiding."

"I see…the poor thing."

Lelouch was quiet for a moment until he asked as he figured changing the subject was a good idea.

"As for the ring I'll allow Kohaku to use its invisibility powers as she pleases, but I'll also use her to keep an eye on the Tohno Family especially its new head Akiha Tohno, the daughter of the previous head."

"I see…for being able to use the ring for what she wants you are using her to spy on the Tohno Family?"

"Indeed…a family full of half-demons is a family I better keep a close eye on. Given how close she is to the current head…Kohaku is perfect for monitoring them." Lelouch replied as he laid back in his chair relaxing as he felt sympathy for the girl especially at the sacrifice she made to save her twin from her fate.

'_She scarified her innocence and her childhood for the sake of her sister…becoming a doll in end, or at least that's how she sees herself as now.'_

* * *

><p>The following morning in Fuyuki City Sakura was walking through the city exploring for the most part, but a part of her was curious to see just how much the city had changed since she and Lelouch had gone to the Tokyo Settlement to attend the Ashford Academy. She passed by the Homurahara Gakuen finding that it was still in operation, but it seemed a little run down…likely denied funds to help properly maintain the grounds properly. Compared to other places however the private school was in far better operation than other places she had seen.<p>

"Sakura is that you?" A familiar voice behind her asked as the plum haired girl turned around seeing an older woman wearing a green strapped dress with a yellow and black striped shirt. She also had short dirty blonde hair and light brown eyes carrying a bag in one hand.

"Oh it's you Fuji-sempai." Sakura said recognizing Fujimura Taiga.

"I haven't seen you for awhile how have you been?"

"I have been well, but how have you been?"

"I have been doing well sempai…I just arrived in town not too long ago."

"Maybe if you have time later why don't you visit Shirou after school. He has missed you, but of course I'll be there."

"Oh…maybe I will, but how is Shirou these days?"

"Well he's gotten taller that's for sure, but as far as personality and habits he remains mostly the same."

Sakura chuckled a little at the thought, but it wasn't had any intention of teasing him…it was rather the young girl was pleased that Shirou had remained the same since they had met when they were children, but when she and Lelouch left for the Tokyo Settlement a few years ago they hadn't seen him since.

"I am glad to hear he hasn't changed much."

"Yeah, but…" Fujimura was beginning to say, but suddenly hearing the bell behind her the woman panicked as she turned around began running at high speed to reach her classroom realizing she was late now. "OH I AM SORRY SAKURA, BUT I GOT TO GO SEE YOU LATER!"

"Ok…bye sempai." Sakura said as she smiled while waving at the dust cloud trail the running teacher had created when she suddenly hurried off.

* * *

><p>In another corner of town Lelouch was walking around Verde the largest shopping center in all of Fuyuki City located in Shinto, the urban section of the city. Following behind him in spirit form was Caster as Lelouch was going around the various shops collecting a few items and some food supplies, but overall it was a cover for him to personally search around some areas of Fuyuki for the other masters and their servants.<p>

So far he hadn't seen any servants present in his current location, but even if they were hiding he could spot them even if they were in spirit form. Caster was following closely behind him spoke to her master deciding to ask.

"If I may how will you proceed once the war begins?"

"Sakura wishes to fight Rin, so I'll assist on that front…at least I'll make sure no one interferes with their battle."

"She'll challenge her own sister, but you must know she could end up killing her?"

"Of course, but this is what Sakura wants…how she decides to deal with Rin I am leaving completely up to her." Lelouch replied before he added. "Ever since she had arrived at the Matou Mansion Sakura has suffered greatly at their hands in a number of ways which acclimated to the point where she was almost raped by Shinji Matou. Since she was taken she has held a strong sense of resentment towards Rin for not doing anything to help her, but I seriously doubt Rin was in a position to do anything regardless."

"Then she hates Rin for being obvious to the suffering Sakura endured."

"I am not sure if that's the right way to put it, but she does feel a great amount of animosity against Rin for what happened."

"Then besides that how will you deal with the other Servants?"

"In any way I can, but there is problem of the Gilgamesh."

"Gilgamesh?"

"Yes the King of Heroes and an Archer-Class servant who has managed to remain in the world ever since the end of the last Holy Grail?"

"What, but how?"

"I am not one hundred percent on the details, but apparently Zouken suspected he was still around given the large number of children seen arriving at Kotominie Church following the war's end. Since they arrived not a single one left the church. Zouken was suspicious of the Church's priest Kotominie Kirei a master from the last war, but apparently the one who was likely behind the fire that had broken out at the war's end. Upon discovering this information I began keeping an eye on that church and that was when I discovered Gilgamesh. I didn't know who he was at first, but only reviewing the notes I did a process of elimination until I deduced that Gilgamesh was the servant I saw with Kotominie at the church feeding off of the orphans kept there."

"So besides the seven servants in this war there is an eighth servant we need to be careful of."

"Yes and the worse of is that Kotominie is the moderator for the entire war on behalf of the church and judging from what I have seen they are completely unaware of his actions within the church." Lelouch commented while a smile appeared on his face. "Such actions which I will exploit for my own gain when the time is right."

"For the Holy Grail War?"

"No…for my war against Britannia and most likely the Church, which I know they will try to hinder my efforts. But Kotominie's actions will only provide a small amount of what I need to break the church's influence and power base." Lelouch replied as Medea was wondering if her master had already planned so far in advance, but given how some unforeseen problems seemed to arise for him she wondered if his plans would proceed smoothly as Lelouch believes.

The future wasn't certain that much is clear, but Medea was certain her master understood that better than anyone.

* * *

><p>Two days later at Minas Morgul Sakura was standing in her room wearing a black robe while two Ringwraiths approached her before they began fitting silver armor upon her body preparing her for battle while the motionless plum haired girl was deep in thought as the Nazgul fastened the silver mail armor on her body covering her entire armor in lightweight, but very durable silver mail armor and clawed gantlets similar to the Witch King's while on her head her horned helmet was placed on her with the black cloth veils hiding her face. Sheathing the Morgul Blade on her side along with a pouch full of supplies and components for spells and then she placed a long pale enchanted blade on her waist next to the small blade sheathed on her belt before one of the Nazgul handed her staff to her.<p>

Rider was waiting outside as Sakura exited the room escorted by two of the Nazgul.

Mounting black motorcycles below the Ringwraiths were setting out to begin their mission assigned to them by the named Princess of the Nazgul, trained in the ancient and mystic arts by the Dark Lord himself yet she also received training from the Witch King as well. Not just in magic, but in combat as well becoming a second master and perhaps something of a surrogate father as far as Sakura was concerned.

On the roof of one of the smaller towers Sakura and her servant Medusa mounted a fell beast, created and bred through magic by the Dark Lord. It wasn't an easy feat, but by magically combining creatures and mutating them the Dark Lord recreated the evil creatures, well almost, because unlike the original fell beasts these new breeds of the wyvern-like beasts possessing long-snake like heads and rows of razor sharp teeth. A noteworthy difference was that their hides were stronger and capable of taking a little more punishment, but a good blow from a sword or sufficient damage from ballistic weapons could down them.

"Are you ready Rider?"

Sakura asked as she took the reins of her armored Fell Beast as it had had plate armor protecting its head and neck along with parts of its back around the saddle where the two occupants sat.

"I am master…"

"We ride to war…" Sakura spoke quietly as she pulled back on the reins…with a mighty roar the fell beast took to the sky flying out of the Bountiful field and heading for Fuyuki City. Watching them fly off was Lelouch through the palantir.

"It begins…"

Later that night at the Tohsaka Mansion; Rin was seated in the main study on the sofa with a cup of tea in front of her prepared by her servant, Archer. The young heiress of the Tohsaka Family took some slips from the tea that was prepared for her before addressing the tall muscular servant standing in her room wearing a black modified archer uniform with red coat-like garb, possessing dark skin and white hair.

"Are you sure you can't remember your identity? Can't you at least tell me what country you hail from?"

"I am sorry, but given how violently I was summoned I can't recall much of myself."

"Then how am I supposed to know your abilities then?"

"We'll have to find out as I go, but I can assure you it will not hinder my capabilities. I am not missing anything important that much I am certain of."

Rin sighed feeling a little concerned about the servant she had summoned if albeit violently, but by accident really while attempting to summon a Saber-class servant, although she would have to just make do with her current servant.

"You need to let it go…I can tell what you are thinking." Archer replied taking a slip from his tea cup.

"It's not that I am upset at you, but rather at myself for not being able to obtain what I had wanted." Rin replied knowing that she couldn't hold her own failure against Archer he was merely brought along for the ride. "But you do know how to make excellent tea. It's excellent Archer…"

"Well I am glad that you like it." Archer replied, but suddenly he felt something was wrong as he sprung into action shouting. "GET DOWN RIN!"

He leapt through the air tackling his own master to the floor just in time as hail of bullets from outside poured in through the windows. Outside on the street below a pair of Nazgul armed with assault rifles were unloading whole clips of ammo into the room they knew where Rin was. They weren't trying to kill her, but merely relay a message.

But rather it was more of a declaration of war.

Once they were finished one of them hurled a black metal spear into through one of the shattered windows with a note attached before the two Nazgul quickly mounted their motorcycles riding off into the night. Archer slowly got back up as he heard the sound of the two attackers riding away while he gestured for Rin to stay down on the ground.

"They're gone…"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?"

"Judging from the shot out windows and that spear stuck in your wall over there…" Archer replied causally pointing to the black spear stuck in her wall behind them near the door. "I say someone is issuing a declaration of war against us."

"But the seventh servant couldn't have been summoned already right?" Rin asked as she got back up to her feet.

"I know, but either way someone clearly has it out for you."

"You mean one of the masters in this war has some kind of grudge against me?"

"That is rather obvious…the attackers weren't trying to kill you their aims weren't too high and if they had really wanted to kill you they could have destroyed this entire house instead of shooting out some windows." Archer pointed out while he untied the note from the spear stuck in the wall. "Question is who do you know could be a Master in this war who has a grudge against you?"

"I don't know, but can you track them?"

"I can, but you'll be alone for a time?"

"It's ok…just go."

"Very well, but just be careful Rin."

As Archer faded into spirit form to pursue the Ringwraiths Rin hurried down the stairs making her way through the living room, but it wasn't long before her servant returned.

"Rin the ones who attacked your home are standing in the middle of the park behind the mansion?"

"What are they doing?"

"Obviously waiting for us?"

"I know, but it's likely an ambush."

"That's true, but we can't exactly wait here for the enemy."

"I know that…did you see anyone else?"

"No, but those men that attacked this house…they aren't human."

"Are they servants?"

"No…there are not even that, but something else we need to be extremely careful."

Rin didn't say anything else, but hiding in the clouds above atop her Fell Beast were Sakura and Rider right for the opportune moment to descend and join.

* * *

><p>Back at Minas Morgul Lelouch was overlooking the sealed container that had arrived at his castle only a short time ago, but he had another pressing matter to address with his servant the Witch King as his fellow Ringwraiths were just about finished encasing the dreaded Nazgul in a new suit of armor endowed with potent enchantments to aid the Witch King's new powers he had been granted.<p>

"Rin and Sakura about to engage one another very soon, are you going to do anything?" Medea reported while using her powers to observe the coming conflict between the sisters, but Rin wasn't aware of Sakura's intentions.

"That won't be necessary…I have the utmost faith in Sakura's abilities and skills. Her own servant is also formable in her own right." Lelouch replied with a smile upon his face, but his good mood only improved when the Witch King stepped out no longer wearing the tattered robes he had been wearing, but now in a brand new suit of dark gray armor similar to the armor he wore as the Ruler of Angmar.

Yet the armor clearly had some modifications and improvements for instance the tabard he wore was all black save for the fact that the edges were lined with gold and red with an embossed emblem of the Eye of Sauron upon it outlined in red. The Witch King was now wearing full body suit of chain mail under his tabard and armor covering his legs as well as spiked boots with a black leather belt with a silver clasp and clawed spiked gantlets upon his hands.

Wearing a black cape lined with red and gold with a hood that covered his head with his signature helmet-like crown upon his head. A Morgul blade at his side and a sheath for his new sword to be provided to him by the Dark Lord, an artifact he found among Zouken's belongings that had been used in the last grail war the relic used to summon the Berserker Black Knight, Lancelot.

The Witch King seemed more imposing than ever before, but wearing the familiar armor of the King of Angmar was a nostalgic sight for the Dark Lord, but adapted and endowed with strength and speed increasing enchantments to bolster the Witch King already formidable powers and combat abilities. However the gantlets on the Witch King were enchanted with a very special power that Lelouch had worked hard on reproducing, but he was only successful in granting this power to the Witch King.

This power was inspired from the notes and observations on the servants collected by Zouken that Lelouch had discovered while reviewing said notes on all of the servants that had appeared in all of the Holy Grail wars with Zouken having kept notes and details on their displayed abilities for future reference should said servants reappear in future wars.

"Witch King…if you would…I want to see if the new power I granted you works." Lelouch said with a smile of anticipation as he picked up a submachine gun before shooting at a set up human-like figure made out of straw on the far side of the room to act as a target. The bullets hit their mark with Lelouch reloading a flesh clip into the weapon before placing it on the table allowing the Witch King to take hold of the submachine gun. Medea watched as a kind of dark energy engulfed the weapon just before the Lord of the Nazgul pointed and aim the weapon at the target before unloading the entire clip against it.

The first bullet flying out of the barrel of the weapon with the force of a canon hit the straw-dummy ripping the thing in half with the first shot alone while the following shots completely obliterated the dummy along with the wall behind it. When the smoke cleared almost nothing was left of the straw dummy save for some bits of straw and a large hole in the wall where it once stood.

"Well…I must say that exceeded expectations, but this should allow you to pilot a Knightmare Frame now. Of course such a power will be useful to you in a large number of ways; unfortunately it's a pity I couldn't grant such power to the other eight."

Lelouch said as he was saddened that he could grant the other Nazgul the same ability he strived over trying to recreate…a feat which was very difficult to be sure. Although at night the Nazgul powers were at their greatest and even with the one ring sunlight could still weaken them especially in causing their sight to degrade in daylight only perceiving shadowy forms although their sense of hearing and smell helped compensate.

But when it came to Knightmare Frame piloting their weakened senses and the armor and robes which proved rather restrictive in cockpits of the machines proved to be a problem. Lelouch knew there will be battles where it would be best for the Witch King to mount a Knightmare Frame to lead his troops should the need arise. He would have preferred if all of them could, but he would have to settle for the Witch King being able to pilot a Knightmare Frame easily now.

'_You won't only be able to pilot a Knightmare Frame during the day...it will be stronger, especially if the power works in the same nature of Lancelot's Knight of Honor.' _

Lelouch thought when he recalled Zouken's notes mention that Lancelot using that ability was able to utilize a F-15 fighter jet, but not only was he capable of piloting it by simply standing atop of it…he was able to greatly enhance its capabilities beyond what the jet was capable of. If it could do that for a fighter jet then one could only imagine the possibilities of one using a similar ability on a Knightmare Frame.

The possibilities tickled the Dark Lord's fancy making almost tempting for him to claiming the ability for himself after working so hard to recreate it, but alas he knew it would find more effectiveness in the Witch King's hands especially since he would be on the front lines of war more often than he.

"Witch King, return to the new base at Shinjuku Ghetto and take care of whatever business needs to be addressed then return here. I'll likely need you later in the Holy Grail War, but I don't want to tip my hand too soon…for now Sakura and Rin will direct our early war efforts until all of the masters and their servants enter the fray."

"I understand master…and what of the capsule and its contents?"

"I'll examine the contents shortly, but excellent work on finding this test subject."

"As you command my lord."

"But take this with you…" Lelouch said as he handed the Witch King his new sword, the relic that had been used to summon Lancelot as the powerful Berserker in the last war. The Knight of the Lake's sword…Arondight, the holy sword that had been corrupted into a demonic sword by the madness that had claimed Lancelot in life as he killed some of his own fellow knights.

The Witch King admiring its new weapon for a moment before sheathing the weapon in its new scabbard, before the Nazgul began its final preparations to return to Shinjuku.

* * *

><p>Despite some unexpected factors altering his plans things seem to be getting back on track for the Dark Lord, but once again fate is beginning to work against him as outside the empty Matou Mansion a young man around seventeen years of age was knocking on the door trying to get the attention of the house's occupants.<p>

"Hello Sakura…are you home?" Shirou Emiya called as he tried the doorbell again.

He had learned from Fuji-nee that she had ran into Sakura in town the previous day, so the young red haired youth had been hoping to catch up on some old times with the young woman after Fuji-nee pestered him a dozen times since yesterday into going to visit her since she hadn't come by. Shirou knew Fuji-nee was merely eager to eat some of Sakura's cooking again, but on the offhand he didn't mind seeing her since he was curious to how she was doing.

Not too far away, specifically in the wide open field located a close walk away from the Matou Mansion…the same field that connected and reached to the backward of the Tohsaka Mansion grounds. The two Nazgul stood waiting as Rin approached them, but she was careful to maintain a safe distance while Archer was in spirit form ready to attack.

Despite standing a safe distance away Rin felt an uncomfortable chill shoot up her spine as her legs felt shaky as the fear was building within her. But drawing on a great deal of self-control the young woman was able to keep her emotions especially her fear in check.

"If you wanted my attention…there are other ways you could have done it without shooting up a good part of my home."

"It was the will of the one who requested we _acquire_ your attention. You can be sure that our presence here is merely to prevent outside interference." One of the Nazgul spoke with his raspy and bone chilling voice.

'_What are these things? Archer is right they aren't human, but they don't seem to be servants either.'_

As Rin considered the thought Archer alerted her to an incoming attack, but at the same time he appeared and grabbed the young woman getting her out of the way of the fell beast that had swooped down from the sky attempting to eat her, but thanks to Archer's intervention the beast missed its mark.

"I thought you wanted to fight her…I didn't think you were going to kill her so quickly."

"It was merely to draw out her servant."

Sakura replied using magic to alter her voice giving her a deep and raspy voice akin to the Nazgul. The Fell beast turned around before landing on the field a distance away from Archer and Rin. The robed magus and magenta haired servant dismounted the Fell Beast before the creature took to the air to avoid being caught in the crossfire until its rider calls it down again.

"Who are you…did you order them to attack me?"

"I did…as you can obviously tell I am a Master, so how about it shall we fight?"

"I want to know, who are you?" Rin demanded.

"You are not in a position to ask me anything. My sole interest in this war is to defeat you utterly and completely. I want to see you helpless and in pain on the ground just like I was because of you and that man." Sakura shot back calmly while maintaining excellent control over herself not allowing her anger to get the better of her.

"What did I do you?"

"Exactly…you did NOTHING! Kill her servant!" Sakura ordered as Rider hurled her dagger-like nail at Archer while holding onto the ring-attached chain with her free hand as battle between the two servants began.

The Fifth Holy Grail War had finally begun, but yet neither master was aware of the fact that they were able to unknowingly draw another into the war.

* * *

><p>AN: The war has now begun with Rin and Sakura fighting one another to jump start the war between them, but Shirou is nearby and he is likely to end up caught in the middle if he's not careful. I am sorry this chapter took a week longer than expected, but most of it was me deciding on a number of things especially in regards to Minas Morgul (I decided it would be an easier bastion for the Dark Lord to build and less of a huge target than Barad-dur would have been), the introduction of the Fell Beasts and the Lord of the Nazgul's new ability based upon Lancelot's Knight of Honor Noble Phantasm. I also wanted to allow for some time for the Witch King to bring a certain capsule. Of course things might start going a little south for the Dark Lord despite his success especially since the Witch King's hideout happens to be in Shinjuku Ghetto and given they stole Clovis's pet project at this point the Lord of the Nazgul is going to have a real problem on his hand which will delay his intended entrance into the war. Of course let's not forget the Magus Association and the Church lol, so yeah Lelouch is going to be pretty damn annoyed. But Gandalf, Legolas and Nienna are still out and about as well and who knows when and where they will appear.

Either way all hell will start breaking and loose, but enough of that thank you all for the reviews and I need to finish this story quickly because even though I don't want to I keep feeling the temptation to do a harem pairing, so I intend to quickly do more updates. Anyway thank you all and please drop a review or two.


	7. Chapter 7 Unexpected Masters

A/N: Ok here is the next chapter where the sisters face off and Shirou will get dragged into the war, what will happen. Read and find out and thanks for all of the reviews.

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

Unexpected Masters

The battle between Rin and the Princess of the Nazgul quickly escalated between them as Archer summoned his twin swords Kanshou and Bakuya to deflect Rider's dagger before swiftly moving to counter attack. The magenta haired servant was surprised by this development…the servant wasn't a Saber he was an Archer, but seeing an Archer wielding a pair of swords instead of a bow or another suitable long range weapon was surprising.

"For an Archer…seeing you wield two swords is surprising?"

"I didn't tell you I was an Archer, so how did you know that?" Archer asked realizing their foe obviously was fully aware of his class before attacking deducing they were somehow spying on him and Rin before attempting their attack on them.

"I cannot answer that question unless my Master asks me to, but I will say she has her ways."

"Then I'll simply have to find out by beating you and then helping my master get an explanation out of her."

"Just try it!"

Rider began her next attack by spinning her dagger above her head holding onto the chain before flinging it forward trying to ensnare Rider with either the chain or by harpooning him with the weapon, but Archer's quick reflexes and skills with his twins swords allowed him to deflect the attack while at the same time he moved back to avoid a quick counterattack.

Archer moved to counterattack as well right after Rider attempted to strike him from a distance with her dagger closing the distance between them to strike, but the magenta haired servant possessed razor sharp relaxes of her own allowing her to quickly withdraw her dagger back to her hands and swiftly parry the male servant's blows just in time.

As the fight between Rider and Archer dragged on Rin was now left to deal with Rider's master Sakura as she thrust her staff forward striking the young Tohsaka heiress sending her to the ground after feeling a powerful invisible fist hit her in the gut. Rin was quick to recover as Sakura conjured a fireball from the bottom of her staff and sent it flying at her foe.

The black haired woman easily dodged it by rolling to the side as it impacted with the ground a few feet away behind her causing a small explosion. Rin proceeded to counterattack against Sakura by pointing her right index finger forward in a gun-style gesture as she gathered energy to her finger forming a hazy black orb at the tip preparing to use Gandr.

The black orb fired, but Rin soon followed up her attack with additional shots. However before impact Sakura used her staff to encase herself in a barrier of dark power shielding her from Rin's attack while the black orb projectiles bounced harmless upon the shield foiling Rin's attempt at a counterattack.

'_She blocked my attack!' _

Rin was surprised this woman was clearly very skilled at the use of magecraft, but some of the magic she demonstrated didn't seem to be the usual magecraft she had studied. There was something different about, almost alien, but yet familiar. The young Tohsaka heiress didn't have much time to think about it as Sakura dropped her shield and delivered a punishing counterattack using her strike to hit Rin in the head with another invisible strike after swinging her staff to the side imitating a whacking her in the head blow.

Rin was on the ground again, but when she tried to get up she got hit in the stomach again by whatever form of magic the masked woman was using against her.

"Is this it? Is this all the mighty and Miss Perfect Rin Tohsaka has to offer?" Sakura snapped.

Unfortunately the explosion is what alerted Shirou to what was happening just as he was able to leave the Matou Estate the explosion drew his attention. So the young man had decided to investigate and find out what was going on.

'_What was that?' _

Coming around from the side of the mansion Shirou saw the large field before him and in the middle he saw Archer and Rider fighting one another while at the same time he spotted Rin going against Sakura in a battle of magic breaking out between the two as Archer had his hands full with Rider's quick and swift attacks.

'_What the hell is this, a battle happening out here?'_

Shirou thought while trying to comprehend the situation happening since it seemed to be completely out of place. It might have been one thing if he saw gangs attacking one another and the like, but seeing what seemed to be mythological figures fighting stunned the young man. Unfortunately his presence drew the attention of the two Ringwraiths whose tasks were to prevent anyone from interfering, but they had to observe the rules of the Holy Grail War.

Eliminate all witnesses.

Acting on those rules instructed by their master to observe one of the two Nazgul leapt into action drawing its sword before advancing towards Shirou to kill the witness. Shirou's eyes widen in dreadful realization as he knew right there and then that he witnessed something he wasn't meant to see. Realizing the danger of staying the young man fled, but not before Sakura and Rin noticed the young man.

"Oh damn it!" Rin shouted while Sakura on the inside was horrified hoping that young man wasn't who she thought it was.

'_That can't be Shirou!' _

Shirou reached into his school uniform and brought out a small knife he had taken into habit of carrying with him at night to fend off attackers which were sometimes Britannians who liked picking on and going after the Honorary Britannians and Japanese living on this side of the city. Unfortunately Shirou didn't get very far as the Nazgul quickly caught up to him ready to strike him down with his sword, but reacting purely on fighting instinct the young man turned around and deflected the sword strike with his knife.

However the impact of the blow knocked the young man to the ground, but despite the powerful superhuman swing he had barely managed to deflect he was still gripping the knife. However his arms were sore from weathering such a powerful strike.

'_Who is this guy…that sword strike was unreal.' _

Shirou thought as the aura of terror exuded by the Nazgul began tearing at his heart and mind causing a growing fear within him to grip his heart. With a terrible shriek the Nazgul brought his blade down, but the cry of the Nazgul caused Shirou to freeze in place, but yet he still managed to hold his knife out to deflect the blow.

But once again the impact of the blade upon his knife sent him to the ground, but only this time he lost his grip on his weapon losing and now he was at the Ringwraith's mercy.

'_I can't believe this…my mind is telling me to run, but my body is completely frozen.' _

Shirou tried to himself to fight, but his arms were in her pain from having weathered two heavy blows from the Nazgul to the point that they felt like the bones within them were shattered. Although his arms were badly strained to the point that blood was dripping down his arms the bones in his arms were intact thankfully, however this meant he had no means of fighting back.

With a single and quick thrust the Nazgul pierced Shirou's heart with its pale sword.

Sakura had ended combat with Rin to see who had been unfortunate enough to stumble upon their battle, but her heart began to sink when she noticed familiar features of the young man after catching a look at him through her enhanced sight thanks to the helmet she wore. Rin it seemed had also recognized the young man which heightened her fears even more. Taking into account the explosion as well as the fire the fireball she shot at Rin had caused she knew lingering any longer was dangerous, but if that was Shirou then…

"Rider we're retreating…"

"Yes master."

Rider replied before breaking away from Archer and rejoining her master, but once she was standing in front of Sakura the magenta haired servant stabbed her own neck with her dagger causing a large amount of blood to spill out before her which began forming a summoning circle. Archer quickly realized the danger of the circle as a powerful light began to glow in the center of it, so to be on the safe side he quickly retrieved Rin and moved to a safe distance.

With a mighty cry a creature materialized with Rider and Sakura mounting it and launching a high speed escape moving so quickly that Archer and Rin couldn't fully see what had happened except for that Rider and her master was gone and the Ringwraiths had fled the scene.

"Why did they retreat?"

"Perhaps because that woman was concerned about drawing too much attention…that fireball will likely set a lot of these trees on fire soon." Archer pointed out.

Even with a spell in place to keep anyone from being aware of the battle taking place the smoke and flames it likely to draw some attention in one form or another, but yet it seemed whatever spell was cast it seemed to have missed the unfortunate boy now lying apparently dead nearby. Rin saw the young man and decided to approach him, although she knew after a strike like the one he received there was no way he was alive.

Kneeling down near Shirou Rin's expression changed from mild sadness to shock as she recognized him as one of the young boys Sakura used to play with, but that wasn't all that she had noticed…he was alive, albeit barely, despite being stabbed through the heart.

"How is he still alive?"

Shirou's face cringed in pain as he struggled to cling to life. Whatever had been behind his survival apparently had its limits. Unable to watch the young man suffer she drew out a small pendant with a red gem on it.

Meanwhile high in the air Rider sat silently as Pegasus was flying towards Minas Morgul, but for the entire way Sakura was quiet. The servant was perplexed as to why she ordered a retreat, especially when it seemed she was winning against Archer's master.

'_Could that boy have been cause?' _

* * *

><p>As the two returned Lelouch had been observing the entire battle alongside Caster who was now aware of the young man's survival. Yet he was surprised by Shirou's survival knowing that strike from the Ringwraith should have killed him, but now he was alive and thanks to Rin his wounds would be healed. Lelouch knew that Sakura likely retreated possibly because she didn't want to bear the responsibility of Shirou dying because of her especially since he knew the young man having met a few times when Sakura went to visit the Emiya Estate which was on the far side of town.<p>

"I am not sure if it's some kind of magic, but something is at work within that boy?" Medea noted trying to figure out the secret behind his survival.

"Indeed…I knew Shirou briefly and I faintly detected magical potential in him, but I don't think he was formerly trained as a Magus. If so then he has done a good job hiding it or perhaps might have a different kind of magical education perhaps." Lelouch added while he was thinking about it. "But I do know that his step-father was a master from the previous war, so the possibility of him receiving training is high."

"I see, but either way he's an outsider to the war."

"You have a point, but he could be an intended master for the war?"

"That is a possibility?"

"Yet I do agree we cannot ignore Shirou's run in with the Ringwraiths and witnessing the battle." Lelouch said while he had a thought in mind while he telepathically commanded his two Nazgul servants to turn around and head for the Emiya estate.

* * *

><p>Shirou Emiya awoke minutes later on the ground, his body felt fine and while there were blood stains on his clothes he had no obvious injuries. His mind was a bit fuzzy to what had happened, but all he recalled was the Nazgul looming over him before stabbing him with its sword. Slowly rising to his feet Shirou saw no signs of anyone around and he found his knife on the ground next to a pendant left lying there.<p>

Recovering both Shirou decided to return home knowing that if anyone saw him as it that might leave to some complications especially with the police.

It was a long walk, but Shirou taking some short cuts through some alleyways, mostly to avoid being seen by anyone, reached the Emiya Estate. After getting inside Shirou changed his clothes and cleaned himself up before sitting down in the living room to ponder over what had happened. He couldn't quite grasp it all, but he knew it was some kind of battle between magi, but what exactly where those black robed figures he had no idea.

'_Alright a fight between two magi was going on, but those two guys in black robes weren't taking part in the battle and moved to attack me once they knew I was there so I can guess they were supervising the battle.' _

Shirou thought while he was thinking about the battle.

But his thoughts were interrupted by a sudden chill creeping up his spine as the room grew colder. A troubling thought came to Shirou's mind as this feeling was very similar to the one he felt when the Nazgul went after him.

"Damn it…they know I am alive."

Without wasting a moment Shirou hurried over to a floral painting on the wall where he began feeling around the bottom looking for a hidden switch. The painting slid off to the side revealing a hidden compartment containing a specially modified shotgun as well as a katana along with a few other weapons including a handgun.

'_Sorry Dad I didn't think I would be pushed into a position to use the weapons you left for me like this, but I am not sure what I am up against.' _

Before dying a couple years ago Shirou Emiya's guardian and adopted father taught him some survival skills especially after Japan became Area 11 to help him survival the troublesome times that would lie ahead for him because he was an Honorary Britannia, a status he gained thanks to his father's connections, but he did try to teach him magecraft.

Unfortunately his death made it impossible to receive further instruction, but he knew enough at least to give himself a fair chance.

'_Trace on…' _Shirou thought as he tapped his magic circuits to begin reinforcing the shotgun and the katana to make them much stronger and durable in the event that he would be forced into close combat against the Nazgul.

"Alright I am ready!"

Shirou declared as he pumped back on the shotgun ready for whatever the Nazgul could throw at him, but moments later after that declaration a Nazgul leapt at him from the shadows sword drawn. Without a moment's hesitation the young man turned and fired with the impact of the shotgun round at point blank range knocking the Nazgul back on its ass.

To the young man's shock the shot the Nazgul got he was for the most part unharmed, but he didn't have time to fire another shot at it as another Nazgul came in through the backdoor to attack the young man. Shirou ducked to avoid losing his head to the evil creature before backing away, but knowing he would be at a disadvantage against two on one especially in closed quarters. Retreating to the backyard moving towards the shed on the far side of the grounds Shirou looked over his shoulder to see if anything of the Nazgul was following him.

Even if they weren't right this second Shirou knew he had little time before they came after him.

Ducking inside the shed Shirou leaned against the wall next to a window as he looked out at the wide open backyard looking for any signs of movement.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile hurrying to his location was Rin and Archer as the two had realized not too long ago that Shirou wasn't out of danger. It wasn't until they relocated to the basement after cleaning up a little bit of the mess the Nazgul had caused Archer and Rin were seated at a table having tea discussing their previous battle, but one topic managed to pop back up. It was in of course in regards to Shirou who by all accounts was an outsider to the war and someone who wasn't meant to see it.<p>

"Rin you are taking on a lot of trouble by helping that boy."

"I am sorry Archer, but I could allow him to suffer like that."

"His survival from such a strike was shocking to be sure, but the matter of outsiders having to be silenced aside. You know that boy will be hunted down if not by us then by possibility Rider and her master or those two cloaked figures."

"What…"

"If they realize he's alive then they'll likely act to finish the job and I am sure this time around they'll make sure he's dead." Archer ominously warned as Rin just realized her mistake, a huge oversight on her part.

* * *

><p>With that knowledge in mind Rin and Archer were hurrying to the Emiya Estate to save Shirou from death while Archer wasn't exactly keen on the idea himself, but he had to obey his master's objectives.<p>

"You realize you'll be taking on a lot of trouble don't you?"

"I know, but…I don't want him to be killed." Rin said acting to protect one of Sakura's friends.

"Are you sure you want to risk yourself like this…if those hooded figures are what I think they are then you'll be heading into a dangerous situation."

"You know what they are?"

"I think so…their cry of death is something you don't forget. I recall fighting one of them before…I didn't remember until their cry stirred some memories."

"What are they?"

"They are called Nazgul, Ringwraiths; they are neither living nor dead. They were formerly kings and great warriors in their day, but when they were given Rings of Power by the Dark Lord they obtained great power and prestige. However it came at a terrible prince as one by one they fell to darkness becoming slaves to the Dark Lord's will."

"Dark Lord?"

"I'll try to explain that part in better detail later, but since there is a chance we'll be fighting them I better tell you their strengths and weaknesses as well as abilities."

"Alright…tell me the details Archer."

"First off normal weapons like swords and ballistic weapons won't work on them. Swords and knives especially will disintegrate upon contact with their wraith bodies even if you manage to bypass their armor. A flamethrower however is more ideal since the Ringwraiths don't like fire so if you can light them on fire then you can drive them off. They need their armor and robes to have more of an effect on this plane so if you can destroy it then they will be forced to return to their master for new armor and robe to give themselves form so they could interact with the physical world. Our disadvantage is that we are fighting them at night when they are at their strongest and their enhanced senses are at their best during this time. Ideally the best time to face a Nazgul would be during the day where their powers are weakened by the sun."

"Ok, so our best bet would be setting them on fire…how do we destroy them?"

"That part is a little tricky…Servants like me and those with anti-army or potent anti-unit Noble Phantasms can destroy them, but for a human like you defeating a Ringwraith alone is a daunting task. However if you possess potent enhanced weapons such as Daggers of Westernesse which would be very useful since those daggers were designed specifically to be used against Wraith-like sprits including the Nazgul. The proprieties of such weapons would render them vulnerability and weaken them greatly by disrupting the magic that anchored them to this world and allow for even a simple sword to slay them in that moment of vulnerability."

"Ok, but you happened to have such a weapon?"

"Not exactly, but there is a weapon I have in my arsenal I could try. Weaknesses aside Rin there is another danger you must be very careful of…their aura of terror and their screeches can immobilize even the bravest of men with terror and fright so you'll need to steel yourself for it. First timers have a hard time enduring it unless they are exceptionally brave. However most important of all Rin you must keep your distance from them because merely being in the vicinity of one of them could cause disorientation and illness. Intense exposure could be lethal, a condition called the Black Breath…the Nazgul are poisonous…direct contact with their bodies alone could kill you."

"Right…I'll remember that."

"Good because I don't know how to heal anyone who contracts it, so keep your distance." Archer explained as he projected a sword he recalled from his life. An ancient and something of a famous Elven sword he had held long ago during his lifetime…Glamdring.

* * *

><p>Back at the Emiya Estate…Shirou was nervously waiting, but so far the Nazgul hadn't advanced towards him yet. However a throbbing in his heart made him feel increasingly uneasy, which was further reinforced as he heard something move behind him.<p>

"You cannot escape the Nazgul boy!"

Before Shirou could react a shuriken knocked his shotgun from his hand before he was attacked from behind by Assassin with the Witch King stepped out of the shadows having volunteered to his master to oversee Shirou's capture and hopefully possible recruitment to their cause. Assassin held Shirou in a choke hold as the Witch King drew his sword pointing the corrupted holy blade at the young man's neck.

"Be thankful that my lord wants you alive."

Shirou was struggling desperately, but Assassin's hold was too strong. Beginning to fear what could happen to him a mantra of shorts began to appear on his hand while a summoning circle began to manifest and glow behind the Witch King. The Lord of the Nazgul noticed the increasing brightness behind him, but at that moment a summoning was conducted automatically.

"What!"

The Witch King began, but was cut off as he had to block an incoming blow from the newly summoned servant that had come forth from the circle knocking the Lord of the Nazgul back and out the window flying over Assassin and Shirou after the two ducked. The light died down revealing a beautiful woman wearing silver ornate armor and a blue combat dress underneath with metallic armored boots armed with an invisible weapon.

Assassin retreated releasing his prisoner to go assist his master as the blonde haired summon regarded Shirou.

"…I ask of you, are you my Master?" The blonde haired girl asked as the moonlight shinned down upon her giving her a radiating glow.

"Huh?"

"I have come forth in response to your summons. From this moment forward, my sword shall be with you and your fate shall be with me…now, the contract is complete." Saber declared. "Saber is reporting for duty!"

Taking her sword, hidden by invisible air, the blonde woman charged out to face the Witch King and Assassin, but he was now accompanied by two of the Nazgul. It was three against one, but the Lord of the Nazgul advanced upon Saber with his sword raised up before bringing it down to meet Saber's own invisible blade as the impact of their weapons thundered through the air as Saber was almost pushed back.

She didn't back down as she pressed on her attack with Assassin aiding his master by hurling shurikens at the blonde haired servant while the other two Nazgul with their swords ready charged at the female servant. At that moment Archer attacked from above stabbing one of them in the back with the projected Elven sword he was currently wielding.

Archer didn't stop he pulled the sword out and began cleaving into the Ringwraith trying to down it fast and quickly before it can counterattack. The second Nazgul moved to attack the red clothed servant to defend its comrade against Archer's brutal attack as a good chunk of its armor was damaged and parts of its black robes were shredded.

Watching from a safe distance in the second floor of the shed was Rin having retreated up there per Archer's suggestion to avoid possible infection by the Nazgul's black breath. Although she had no intention of remaining idle either as she began contemplating a means of attacking them and so after remembering what Archer told her began gathering a few things she found inside the shed.

Outside Saber took note of the new Servant arriving, but she would have to deal with him once he was done with the Witch King and his servant after she managed to deflect the small projectiles thrown at her backing up to give herself some space. However taking a moment Saber recognized the sword the Witch King was wielding.

'_I know that blade…that sword belonged to Lancelot.'_

Seeing the sword of her champion and friend being wielded by another like the Witch King infuriated her especially since it was obvious even to her that holy blade was corrupted. She was angered by seeing the blade more corrupted than it was in the hands of Lancelot when he was the Servant Berserker Saber knew she had to keep quiet since it would run the risk of her revealing her identity.

Saber and the Witch King continued exchanging blows as Assassin drew its katana joining the battle with Saber now being forced to fend off attacks from two attackers at once. Despite being outnumbered the blonde haired servant was holding her own against her despite weathering the Witch King's powerful hammering blows.

Archer was fairing as well as Saber was as he was successfully fending off two of the Ringwraiths on his own with one of them suffering considerable damage to its garments and armor, but the tie of the battle quickly began to change as a glass bottle filled with gasoline and a burning cloth hit the Nazgul in the back setting the dark creature ablaze.

Rin had another Molotov cocktail ready, but Archer decided to give her a chance to save it as he shoved the burning Nazgul into its comrade setting them both on fire. Two of the Nazgul were now disabled as they were forced to withdraw from the battle as they tried to put themselves out before the flames burn their robes thus severely comprising their ability to interact with the physical world.

The one who already had his armor severely damaged by Archer's first strike the Nazgul's garments were all but completely destroyed and so another well hit blow to destroy what remained of its armor and garments would cripple the Nazgul forcing him to return to his master for new garments to regain the ability to interact in the physical world.

Seeing an opportunity Archer poured his strength into the blade after parrying the two Nazgul leaving the one severely damaged open allowing him to deliver a devastating blow that seemingly cleaved the Nazgul in two The rest of his garments burned away while his shattered armor fell to a heap on the ground, the Nazgul was now rendered unable to continue fighting with no means of interacting with the physical world now. Rin hurled the gasoline filled bottle equipped with a burning cloth at the Witch King, but the Lord of the Nazgul saw it and shattered it with one swipe from his sword bathing his blade in its flames instead.

The Witch King began fighting back with even stronger swings and blows pushing Saber back, because some of his blows as strong as they were had nearly exploited openings in the young woman's defenses, but Saber held fast against the Witch King's savage assault and Assassin's attacks as well barely fending off both foes.

The last Nazgul besides the Witch King attempted to tackle the blonde servant to weaken her knowing its possible defeat was near attempting to slow her down and hope that the flames consuming his body would injury Saber. Archer tried to stop him, but ultimately went for the Witch King instead…however the Lord of the Nazgul seemly used a powerful magically-enhanced scream of power to sending Archer flying a few feet back.

However Saber didn't give the burning Nazgul a chance to reach her as she turned around the cleaved the Nazgul in two through the waist. Seeing the tide of the battle going against them, the Witch King ordered his servant Assassin to use potent flash bombs in conjunction with smoke bombs to cover their escape as the two fled in the blinding light and smoke created by their escape.

Once the smoke died down the remains of the Ringwraiths armor faded away disintegrating into dust, but Archer knew their spirits were still intact and were likely returning to their master for new garments and armor. But Archer had to raise his sword up to deflect Saber's incoming strike, because now that the Nazgul and the Witch King was gone the female servant's priorities switched to engaging the red-coat servant considering him a threat…one that needed to be dealt with.

This helped Assassin and the Witch King flee the scene much easier, taking the motorcycles their comrades had used while the Fell Beast they rode returned to the castle after dropping them off.

Archer parried all of Saber's attack, but the blonde haired knight just kept coming and showed no signs of slowing down. Stepping outside Shirou was at a complete loss at what had just happened and he had no idea what was really going on. He saw Archer come in and help the blonde haired woman, but now suddenly she was aiming to kill him. Nothing was adding up and Shirou wanted some answers, so recover his shotgun he aimed at the ground between Saber and Archer before firing.

The shot got their attention as both Servants looked at Shirou as shouted having taken all he could take this evening.

"THAT'S ENOUGH! WHAT IS GOING ON, SOMEONE TELL ME!"

"Master…he's an enemy…" Saber said seemingly genuinely dumbfounded by her master's actions.

"He was helping us fighting them off so how is he an enemy?"

"Saber…I think it's rather obvious your master has no idea in regards to the situation, especially the war he is now involved in." Rin said walking out of the shed. "It's nice to see you again Shirou…it's been a couple years since we last saw one another."

"Hey…you're…" Shirou began as the memory of a young pig-tail girl in a school uniform came back to him. "Rin…Rin Tohsaka?"

"I am glad you remember me."

"Yeah you were the vice president of the middle-school student council before you moved to the Settlement. Issei was quite happy when you moved away." Shirou commented recalling the very good mood his friend was in the day the news came that Rin was moving away.

"Pardon me Master, but I still have a servant trying to kill me." Archer inquired.

"Saber…if you are my servant then I am asking you to stand down."

Reluctantly Saber lowered her sword.

"Archer now that the danger is over would you mind telling me what you know about those creatures?"

"You mean the Nazgul?"

"Nazgul?" Saber said as her eyes widened at surprise at the mention of the word.

"You seem to have heard of them?" Shirou said while Rin also noticed the momentary change in expression on Saber's face before the female Servant appeared calm again.

"I have, but I thought they were just an old myth?"

"I can assure you they were no myth…we fought two of the Nazgul and the strongest among them. The Lord of the Nazgul himself, the Witch King of Angmar."

"That was him…the one with the crown?"

"Indeed, so I assume then you have heard of the Witch King as well."

"As I said they were only a myth, but a friend of mines when I was alive told me about them. The Nazgul were originally nine great kings of men, but each of them foolishly accepted a magical ring of power from the one called the Dark Lord. One by one they fell and became enslaved to the Dark Lord's will becoming neither living nor dead. The strongest among them was the Witch King of Angmar who was a fearsome warrior and a cruel and deadly tactician, but he was also a powerful sorcerer whose knowledge and skills with the dark arts allowed him to earn the moniker Witch King. It he who founded the ancient kingdom of Angmar long before the first days of human history and crushed the Kingdoms of Arnor."

"That's pretty much it…he could have stayed and fought us, but his master must have recalled him which means his goal must have been to capture you." Archer replied before casting a glance at Shirou.

"Why would the Nazgul be after my master, so they could use me?"

"I don't think was the case. Earlier Shirou happened upon a battle my master and I was fighting in and he witnessed it. As per the rules he was a witness not meant to see the battle. The Nazgul that were present at the time quickly dispatched of him by one of them stabbing him in the heart with their sword. However he somehow survived what should have killed him, but he was still barely alive like something was holding onto his life desperately trying to keep him alive. My master here despite my objections, overlooking the fact witness are to be killed, used one of her stones to heal your injuries saving your life."

"I see, but when capture wasn't possible they retreated."

"Yes and those two Nazgul that were defeated will be back. Once they receive new armor and garments to give them physical presence once more. Right now they are trapped in spirit form unable to interact with the physical world. It's one of their weaknesses."

"If I may inquire Archer how do you know so much about them?" Saber asked.

"I fought them during my lifetime, I don't remember my past fully, but I remember enough of it at this point to remember the Nazgul and the one who commands them."

"You mean the Dark Lord?"

"Yes…I never encountered him, but his presence was being felt around the world especially when his servants the Nazgul were sent to carry out his orders. The Dark Lord himself I never found out anything on him, he kept himself shrouded in mystery and rumors. What I do know is he comes from a time long before recorded human history predating human civilization."

"Impossible, but how…"

"Take this sword for instance I discovered it. This weapon's existence alone spits on the accepted theories of humanity's origin and knowledge. I found it after a long time forged using a crafting art that is not within any records. From there I began researching and I discovered remnants of historical documents revealing some information suggesting the existence of First, Second and Third age of Middle Earth as our world was called during those times before known history from beings like the True Ancestors and Dead Apostles." Archer explained as Shirou as well as Rin were stunned by these revelations.

"What about the Dark Lord?"

"I already told you no matter how hard I dug around for information I found virtually nothing on him save for rumors. But the worse, it was, that he merely moved on within the shadows, nudging an event here, another there, patiently, yet inexorably…ensnaring people, countries and such on his reach, all towards a goal."

"What goal was that…world domination?"

"Maybe, but I think there was something else. However...either way I didn't live to see what that goal was."

"You were killed?" Rin asked.

"Yes…I don't remember how, but I think my own reputation did me in." Archer answered, but he was hiding a few things still as he recalled more than anyone else had thought. "As for the Dark Lord his influence is fearsome alone. As you can probably imagine Rin despite his acts from the shadows the Magus Association and the Church began to act to put a halt to his activities, but even they couldn't stop him."

"What happened?"

"Although I couldn't prove it, he was linked to the destruction of most of the Burial Agency of the Church. It is said that a demon of fire and shadow, immune to nearly all of their relics and such the agency had, but by the time that they finally managed to defeat it, nearly 4/5 of the entire Burial Agency was dead, the rest grievously wounded or such, and Rome was devastated."

This revelation shocked, but yet horrified Rin who knew of the Burial Agency as the reputation of its members, who each of them was a lethal assassination even feared within the church.

"What about the Association?" Shirou asked.

"I don't know, but from what rumors I heard some Magus were vanishing or leaving the association. I saw one member of the Association aiding the Ringwraiths before my death. I am only going to guess there was some kind of division happening within the Association, but beyond that I don't know."

"If everything you said is truth…then the Dark Lord himself is involved with the Holy Grail War, especially if the Witch King has a Servant of his own…Assassin."

"That is likely the case, which means we could all be in a whole lot of trouble."

* * *

><p>Watching from afar through the Palantir in the safety of his dark bastion Lelouch was grinning mischievously as he had observed the entire meeting and knew everything they knew, but Archer's knowledge of future events was very interesting to the Dark Lord.<p>

"A servant of the future instead of the past, but judging from his words a future in which I am involved and winning."

Archer's words gave a sense of confidence to the Dark Lord and his designs, but he was mindful of not allowing such assuring thoughts or confidence clouds his better judgment. Because no matter how hard one plans…something can still go wrong. Lelouch knew he wouldn't be able to gleam anything further from them for the moment so the Dark Lord directed his thoughts elsewhere.

He had someone he needed to check in with.

* * *

><p>Underneath the Ashford Academy, the Sanctuary of the Dark Lord was silent, but not uninhabited as its caretaker was walking through the dark polished halls led by a Wight wrapped in black robes possessing pale white bony hands. The woman was obviously female holding an iron wand in her hand as she was approaching a simple iron cage at the end of the small dungeon where the unsuspecting trespassers are being kept.<p>

She was around the same age as Lelouch if not possibly a year older with a mature, but surprisingly slender body with silky straight hair of dark purple extends to her haunch and dark purple eyes. The woman was dressed in a black suit with a red tie wearing a matching skirt wearing black shoes. The Japanese woman stopped at the cage where she saw two Ashford Academy students, one of them was a boy and the other was a girl. According to what she had been told they were found trying to make out in the tunnels below the school and unwitting came too close to finding Lelouch's sanctuary.

A feat that should have been impossible, but nevertheless these two in their attempts to find a place to be alone led them to being caught by the Lesser Wraiths guarding the tunnels although the illusion spells and other traps should have kept them from advancing so far. The girl in the cage saw the woman as did her would-be lover.

"What the hell is Eleven trash doing here?"

The girl didn't respond, but spoke softly…yet politely.

"I remember seeing your photo…you must be Lisa Williams and you are Alan Spacer." Kotonoha Katsura said calmly although she glared at the son of the duke who was inside the cage. "I know all about you…cheater, sex addict, and betrayer!"

Kotonoha was referring to Alan's reputation around school as a spoiled rotten brat who was quite the womanizer especially with nasty rumors going around that he typically dates women for a time and then cruelly dumps them. More so especially after he manages to bed them if given the chance, but sadly it seems some have ignored those rumors.

Although Lisa had a chance of surviving this night, but Alan on the other hand…his fate was sealed.

"Let us out of here you piece of trash" Alan said insultingly.

"I am not trash…everyone was mean to me and **he** used me." Makoto said as her expression and eyes were taking on a darker tone. "Knock the girl out and remove her from the cage."

The lesser wraith obeyed as Lisa fell into a deep slumber as the cage opened and the wraith dragged the woman away, but when Alan attempted to escape a wave of the staff she held sent the womanizer slamming into the other side of the cage. An unseen, but powerful force was holding him in place as another lesser wraith arrived with a Morgul Blade.

"I hate womanizers and most of all I hate people who use women for sex…you deserve this very much." Kotonoha said softly as she advanced as the struggling high school student, but his efforts were in vain as the Japanese teen stabbed the young man in the shoulder with the Morgul Blade.

The young student was outraged by the wound, but before he could say anything a burning pain erupted in his body as he felt the tip of the Morgul Blade that had been left inside of him beginning to work its way to his heart as its vile magic began working. As she watched the boy squirm in pain as the tip of the blade reached Alan's heart causing his life to end, but he was able to endure a fate worse than death as his physical body melted away as a newly formed Wight stood in his place now under the eternal servitude of the Dark Lord.

After using the wand to modify the girl's memories the Lesser Wraiths dragged her off to dump her body somewhere on the school grounds where it could be found.

Despite their best attempts to prevent, the students were still finding ways into the sanctuary or more specifically the tunnels leading to it. Since building it Lelouch had the tunnels connecting to the underground sanctuary laced with traps of deadly cunning, both magical as well as modern lethal weapons and defensive traps.

However as a way to prevent unnecessary deaths that could be noticed by the school and others there was in place several different kinds of illusion enchantments meant to scare anyway anyone wandering too close to the sanctuary by a frightening illusion in the form of either a scary ghost, a vision of severed heads appearing on spikes and if need be a ghost train traveling through the tunnels to scare the curious away.

But it seem despite their best attempts there are a small few who somehow managed to avoid getting ensnared by the illusions or somehow avoided them.

Once her job was done, Kotonoha made her way back to the main chamber to deliver her report to Lelouch after satisfying removing one less womanizer from the world with a cover story for his disappearance ready by morning to draw away all eyes from the school. Placing her hand on the palantir her mind was linked to the Dark Lord as communication between the two began. The feeling of Lelouch's powerful presence filling her mind was thrilling feeling and she enjoyed communicating with him.

**_"How many today?" _**

Lelouch asked while suspecting she likely must have come across from students who had stumbled close to his base.

"Not as many as previous times, so I think the new illusion wards are working."

**_"Excellent…how is Nunnally?" _**

"She is fine I checked on her for you, Sayoko has been taking good care of her."

**_"Anything happening that I should be aware of?" _**

"Nothing important, but everything else has gone as you have wanted. I have finished establishing a new base on the outskirts of Shimabara in the hills, but as a precaution we were sure to construct the base safely away from Mount Unzen."

**_"I see good work Kotonoha; so far the Holy Grail War is entering its next stage…I hope to wrap it up soon. However it might drag on a little longer than I had anticipated, so my return might be delayed. The Witch King and some of the other Ringwraiths will return to the Settlement, but I will have the Witch King and one of the Nine accompany him to our base in Shinjuku Ghetto. Khamul and the others will remain with me. However as soon as possible I would like you to come to Minas Morgul." _**

"I understand…I'll leave for Fuyuki tomorrow after I wrap up a few things here."

Lelouch's presence lingered in Kotonoha's mind briefly before he said.

**_"I'll be in touch, keep up the good work. But be sure to spend time with your sister before you come...she has missed you." _**

"I shall…don't worry Lelouch-sama. She'll be back tomorrow morning from Osaka."

Their conversation over Kotonoha sighed heavily as feeling the Dark Lord's presence within her was potent, but yet she enjoyed it. It was odd, but she didn't mind. The young woman turned and made her way to the throne usually occupied by Lelouch as she sat down as her mind was on the young man. She like Sayoko and Sakura obviously knew what Lelouch was.

"The traps are even deadlier now and the illusions are a warning to stay away or die…I am doing all of you a favor by performing this task." Kotonoha said speaking to herself as she gazed up in the ceiling.

* * *

><p>Back at Minas Morgul, Lelouch decided to address another matter that needed his attention while Caster would monitor Shirou and Rin. Sakura had returned and was currently resting, but the Dark Lord would speak with her soon. Lelouch entered the room where the capsule holding the test subject the Witch King and his men had captured.<p>

It was high time to introduce himself to her and find out what she knows.

Wearing his armor and his helmet to hide his face Lelouch began working the small control panel on the capsule to open it up. After fiddling with the controls for a minute a hiss of steam was heard as the capsule began unlocking itself before opening up revealing a young woman with lime green hair wearing a Britannian prison uniform. The imprisoned woman opened her eyes and saw the armored form of Lelouch standing there as she stumbled to the side.

Weak from being locked inside for a long time the woman lay still for a time, but she was alive and breathing. As she recovered Lelouch began probing her mind to discover her identity and see what she knew wishing to determine exactly why Clovis was so interested in besides what he glanced over in the research notes. He didn't quite understand it, but perhaps meeting and probing the mind of the girl himself could give him a clearer picture.

C.C. laid there unaware her mind was being invaded by the Dark Lord as she was recovering from her prolonged captivity within the capsule she has been spending a lot of time in since she was captured by Clovis's men. As Lelouch began probing through surface memories the depth of her memories and mind was surprising and Lelouch knew this was likely due to the long life she has lived as an immortal.

'_If she has been hopefully alive since the Age of Gods perhaps I can find out a little more about what happened back then.' _

As Lelouch had begun to dig deeper he found something that drew his attention. He saw it...a distant memory, the girl meeting a young woman who appeared to be a younger version of his mother.

'_What…it…can't be…'_

Lelouch proceeded to dig even deeper looking upon every memory involving his mother with this woman finally accumulating to a time right after Lady Marianne's assassination. He knew his mother had died, but he probed deeper and found out she had been granted a power called Geass which had the power to transfer his mother's mind into another's body. There was a witness that night to his mother's murder, Anya Alstreim, a young girl who was staying at the villa learning etiquette. This meant one thing…his mother survived although her body had perished, but Lelouch needed to know more so he pressed deeper into the woman's mind.

"_I heard you had died Marianne…what happened?" _

"_I was killed, V.V. shot me in the back…I think he thought I was hindering the plan." _

"Plan…" Lelouch muttered as he looked through her memories of V.V. and this plan mentioned. He saw in C.C.'s mind plans for doing the unthinkable; killing god using something they were trying create called the Sword of Akasha. The weapon was designed to slay what they believed to be god, the collective unconscious of humanity to merge all minds and humanity into one. This ideal appealed Lelouch as he didn't see it was a way to save humanity, but rather it would doom it as opposed to save it.

Worse as he dug deeper he discovered V.V. was his immortal uncle, having gained immortality through possession of a code. Something this woman had also possessed as well rendering her immortal as well and able to grant Geass powers like what his mother possessed and apparently his mother…including others as well from what Lelouch was learning the deeper he probed.

'_The Emperor knew and although he wasn't pleased he DID nothing…'_

He found out Nunnally was set up by V.V. and her memories of the incident was altered rendering her blind as a result…at that point Lelouch lost all of his cool in one go.

"**ARRRRRAAAAGGGGGHHHHH!" **

C.C. screamed when she fully regained consciousness, but she was completely terrified by the enraged Dark Lord who had lost control of his emotions as his body was flaring with terrible power which was a frightening sight to behold.

With a horrifying roar of rage Lelouch's spiking dark power caused the entire case to shake violently for a moment as his body was ablaze in flames before black angelic wings encased in metal spouted from his back as Lelouch was on the verge of reverting into his Maiar form, but at that moment a single memory in his mind buried deep within his subconscious came back to the surface.

The Dark Lord was calmed by the distant memory, the last thing he remembered as a disembodied spirit of malice roaming the wilderness. The form he had been reduced to after his final defeat at the end of the Third Age. He didn't remember it because it was the last thing he knew before he was reincarnated and now he remembered why and how.

"I…remember…the deal…yes…I know what I must do."

Lelouch muttered as C.C. was motionless looking upon the towering dark lord with his manifested angelic wings before they faded and vanished from sight.

"Who…what are you?"

Lelouch looked at the woman before he replied coldly.

"I am the Dark Lord…the man who will crush Britannia and reshape this world, because that is my purpose."

C.C. regained her calm trying to understand why this towering armored being had frightened her so badly, but it had happened so suddenly yet the angelic wings had raised some questions about the being's nature. Caster and Medea wondered what had happened as they even felt the spike of power resonating from the Dark Lord, but that was something they would have to ask him about.

The Holy Grail War had begun and Lelouch's own war with Britannia would be more intense and deadly than anything he had originally envisioned.

'_I know the truth now…you'll all pay for what Nunnally has suffered and I shall be the one to do it.' _

* * *

><p>AN: Lelouch and C.C. have now met with Lelouch now learning the truth behind what really happened by digging into her mind. Shirou has summoned Saber and with her help as well as Archer's they have fended off the Nazgul defeating two of them while the Witch King proved tougher, but there will be time for a rematch later. Sophie has been introduced as another agent of the Dark Lord, but how she met him and came into his service should be an interesting tale.

Thank you all for the reviews and input I'll try to improve and rectify things as I go so please keep the reviews coming, but also I have kinda decided to do a harem. Nothing too big, but I am going to toy with the idea and see where I go with it. To determine it for sure through I have set up a poll in my **Code Geass Crossover R&D Forum,** look under the LOTR/Fate-Stay Night crossover thread to find it and vote. Also if you wish to discuss the story or post ideas and suggestions by all means go right ahead. Just type the Code Geass Crossover R&D in the search under forums search and you'll find it.

Updated 02/11/2012 = Poll is over the winner is Yes for Harem, but now on my profile is a new poll to determine the line up and also read my new short story Queen of the Nazgul to get the story on Kotonoha and her introduction to the Dark Lord's service.

Thanks in advance.


	8. Chapter 8 What could go wrong?

A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews, but at last here is the next update for my Lord of the Rings crossover and I have made some light changes to chapters 2 and 3 including 7 in response to the mini story I have made as a tie in to this one titled Queen of the Nazgul, Bride of the Dark Lord. Just head onto my profile to find it the story is finished explaining Kotonoha and her sister's introduction into the story.

Also be sure when you visit my profile you'll vote on the harem line up I have planned for Lelouch and yes the harem vote one overwhelming by a large margin with a 14 to 1 vote.

Without further ado here is the next chapter.

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><p>Chapter 8<p>

What could go wrong?

Within the safe confines of Minas Morgul; Lelouch was facing the green haired woman after composing himself while the immortal woman who identified herself as C.C sat cross-legged within the open capsule she had been contained in looking at the large armored being without a hint of fear on her face. Her face was a mix of curiosity and confusion.

"What are you tin man?"

"**Be silent…still your tongue or experience my wrath C.C" **

"How do you know my name?"

"**I probed your mind." **

"What?"

"**I saw everything…including your real name…" **

The Dark Lord spoke as he resisted the urge to rip apart the girl, but Lelouch kept his composure as he knew that the girl had nothing to do with what had happened. But when Lelouch spoke her name he summoned his mace into his hand and slammed the top of it into the ground to intimidate her. The immortal was shocked of course that her original name was known, but that merely raised more questions for C.C.

"How did you know that?"

"**You haven't guessed it? I can read your mind as easily as I can read a book." **

"Who or what are you?"

"**I am the one who will destroy the world as it is now and will rebuild it better than it is now." **

"You still didn't answer my question."

"**Careful woman or I'll unmake you." **Lelouch declared, although aware of C.C's immortality the Dark Lord knew of ways to deal with beings such as her.

"If you read my mind then you should know nothing can kill me."

"**That maybe true for those using normal and conventional means, but I on the other hand have access to non-conventional means. There are ways in which I could just unmake your soul and destroy completely…would like to find out if I can?" **

"I don't believe you."

Using his hand Lelouch used telekinesis to pick C.C up and slammer against the wall directly ahead of the Dark Lord.

"**Don't tempt me woman…I know you desire death, but what I could do to you would be A LOT worse." **

C.C didn't say another world as she remained held against the wall with increasing pressure being applied upon her. Finally deciding she had learned her lesson of challenging the Dark Lord, Lelouch released his grip on her letting her drop to the ground where two of his Ringwraith servants entered the room to seize her putting her in shackles.

"**Before I forgot don't expect to talk to Marianne or this V.V since I have put a spell upon you to lock your mind preventing any kind of mental communication." **

Lelouch said to C.C before leaving the Ringwraiths to deal with her, his rage wasn't so much directed at her…rather it was at his mother and this V.V person. Although the green haired witch's personality wasn't helping the Dark Lord's mood, so Lelouch decided to retire for a short time to his private chambers.

Entering his private room the Dark Lord reverted back to his normal form before dropping down into his large and soft leather chair he had by the desk while he sat quietly in deep thought.

'_I can't believe this all this time…'_

Medea was present, but not inside the room. She was waiting outside the door making sure no one disturbed her master, but she was concerned for him given what had happened to him before the young man awoke as Sauron reborn. To find out now that everything wasn't as he had thought and the fact that his parents had more or less abandoned him and Nunnally it was all hard for the Dark Lord to swallow.

Inside the room Lelouch left the chair and fell onto the king-size bed he had in a small room within his private chambers. He hardly used it due to not needing to really sleep, but there were times he did need a bed mostly to relax his mind and body and to sleep for the sake of keeping up appearances. Although at current Lelouch wished he had Kotonoha here with him, a part of him wanting to find comfort in her arms.

He missed Kotonoha terribly, but it wasn't so much the physical interaction between them it was her presence alone the Dark Lord found that he missed.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile back at the Ashford Academy, more specifically underground in the Dark Lord's hidden sanctuary Kotonoha was walking through the dark corridors heading to a small room that was locked carrying a tray. Speaking an enchanted word in ancient Elven tongue the door unlocked and opened allowing the girl to enter inside where another girl around her age was being kept.<p>

She was a pale skinned woman with long brown hair tied into a pair of pigtails while she wore a school uniform that consisted of a black skirt, a white collar skirt and light brown vest with a blue bow-style tie.

"I am glad to see you are doing better Miss Satsuki." Kotonoha replied putting the tray down on a small dresser for easy access for the room's sole occupant. "The medicine he made is working."

"I wish it could have tasted better."

Yumizuka Satsuki complained, although she was grateful for the help she was receiving yet she did wish the potions the Dark Lord had been given her would have tasted a lot better instead of tasting like she was drinking the fluid of dead animals.

"But they say the best medicine tastes the most bitter."

"I think whoever said that didn't have any taste buds."

The two girls laughed at the humor in Yumizuka joke as Kotonoha was glad to see the girl recovering since her unstable state she had been originally found in following the incident at Hotel Century in Misaki some time ago. Her parents were killed, but she survived…however she had become a vampire in the process and was overtaken by her need to feed on human blood.

Luckily the Nazgul came across her when Lelouch realized he was being followed after leaving the hotel. Although it took some time to subdue her without killing her, but they captured her and brought her to the sanctuary for the Dark Lord to study and to see if reserving the vampire transformation was possible. Following her capture and lock up in the Sanctuary the Dark Lord called for a member of her family who was fighting in the resistance organization they had formed who worked under the Witch King.

Her older brother comforted her…and with the help of Lelouch's very bitter tasting potions he was successful in suppressing her vampire impulses although he had a long way to go before he could figure out a cure.

"Tomorrow I'll be going to Fuyuki, but Kokoro and a few of my friends will keep an eye on you."

"Oh is something happening?"

"More or less, but it's nothing to be worried about."

Kotonoha said while she longed to be with her Dark Lord again.

* * *

><p>The evening continued on in Fuyuki City as Shirou, Rin and Saber retired into the house to discuss events more thoroughly while at the same time provide Shirou with an explanation of the Holy Grail War. At current the three were gathered around a coffee table in the living room of the Emiya estate as Rin began telling Shirou the full gravity of the situation he was now in by summoning Saber.<p>

"You have been drawn into a tournament of shorts, the Holy Grail Wars. Think of it as a battle royal of shorts where seven masters summon seven servants to fight until one is left standing."

"Wait…there's a war?"

"You should've had a stigma appear on your hand. Those three marks are your command seals; those marks make you a master." Rin replied as Shirou examined the top of his left hand seeing all three command seals there. "Every few decades seven masters are chosen, each master is granted a servant. Once that happens a battle to obtain the Holy Grail unfolds. I was chosen to be a master as well. As long as you have your command seals your servant will obey you, the command seals give you absolute authority over them. Those seals is what makes them obey your will…you can even force them to do something they don't want to." Rin explained while Shirou was stunned as he glazed upon his Command Seals.

"However each time you force them against their will you will lose a command, so you must always keep your last command." Rin added sternly before looking Saber over. "It seems you haven't fully materialized I am willing to guess that is because of your accidental summoning."

"Correct…Shirou didn't have the proper preparations and the magical power required to complete my summoning. I cannot become a spirit here and regenerating my force will take time."

"Good grief if I was your master I could easily take care of those problems."

"So are you saying I am unfit to be a master?"

"You are not even close genius. You did tell me about the training you received right, so your best spells are reinforcement. But you mentioned that besides those spells you have been working on projection spells and more of the basics right?"

"Well yeah…I can repair broken windows and most stuff with all I have learned, but my dad didn't have a chance to teach me more advance magecraft. It was no thanks to what was happening…between trying to keep our home and dealing with Britannia trying to give us a hard time, but my training ended when he died. Of course my dad was teaching me other things like to survive so I received training in weapons handling and hand to hand combat from him along with other skills he thought would be useful?"

"What…exactly what kind of Magus was your dad?"

"He told me he was a Magus Hunter for the Association who tracked down and dealt with Magi who went against the rules of the Association and ran the high risks of exposing magecraft to the world."

Rin was a little surprised, but it was unfortunate for Shirou. Had his father lived to complete his training more properly he could have been a very formidable opponent in the Grail War given that his father's experience and training as a Magus Hunter would have been a huge help for him. Yet she was certain given the limited training he had received.

'_If he had forgotten about weapons and hand to hand combat training then Shirou might have gotten much further in his magecraft training.' _

The young woman thought before she said.

"Well I suppose we should get going."

"Where are we going?"

"We are going to pay a visit to the man who oversees the whole war." Rin replied with a grin before Saber and Shirou left with her to head across town as Archer remained in spirit form following behind his master.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile around the same time somewhere in the wilderness outside of Fuyuki City a certain young woman with red hair was running blindly through the forest trying to get away from her pursuers armed with a gun, but unfortunately there were no bullets left. Kallen was on the run because earlier she witnessed her father get gunned down by corrupt Britannian soldiers taking orders from a Britannian General who had been lying in wait for them after their step-mother took them out for a family outing to a small cabin on the outskirts of Fuyuki City.<p>

It was only thanks to her step-mother and the men going to kill her thinking she was weak and feeble that she was able to get the jump on them, steal a gun, then make a run for it while fleeing from her pursuers. But she knew no matter how far she ran the half-blood girl knew they were catching up.

Finally Kallen tripped over a log half buried in the dirt and the fall sent her tumbling down into a ditch where she was trapped, but not alone. Inside the ditch with her was a man wearing a blue jumpsuit of some kind with armor plates on his shoulders holding a red spear, but the man was very weak as if he was on his deathbed.

"Wait…a girl here…." The man said weakly, but Kallen ignored him trying to get out of the ditch before her pursuers caught up to her.

"Damn it; help me get out of here!"

"I love to, but I am not going to last much longer."

"I AM NOT GOING TO LAST IF THOSE GUYS CATCH UP TO ME."

"Then…I'll tell you what kid…make a deal with me and become my master. I'll save you…" The blue haired man offered.

"What…"

"I think she's over here!" A voice called out nearby.

"SHIT…FINE WHATEVER!" Kallen said knowing she was going to die if nothing was done, but she wanted to live…she had to live for her brother's sake and to see Japan free again. The moment she took Archer's hand a new pact was made as a set of command seals appeared on Kallen's right forearm while at the same time life returned to Lancer.

"Alright…back in the game!" Lancer spoke triumphantly before he leapt out of the ditch to kill Kallen's pursuers before he would risk carrying his master out of the hole. "Stay low Master and I'll take care of these bastards."

Kallen remained in the ditch, but soon the screams of the men chasing her were heard one by one until there was a calm silence. Moments later Lancer returned with his task successful, so the servant leapt upon picking up the half-blood redhead bridal style before jumping out of the ditch.

"Mission accomplished Master; anyone who was chasing you is dead as a doornail." Lancer stated proudly, but he didn't mention that the Servant took this as an opportunity to replenish his strength he had lost by consuming the spirit energy from the men he had just slain.

"Why do you keep calling me Master?"

"Because we have made an accord, see those marks on your forearm that means you are my master and I will follow any command you give."

"I don't get it…how…" Kallen began as she tried in vain to wipe the Command Seals from her arm.

"Oh boy I guess I got a lot of explaining to do, but why don't we have this conversation under more comfortable conditions?" Lancer suggested as the two vanished into the night with the redhead being carried unwillingly by her unexpectedly newly gained Servant.

* * *

><p>Later that night across the river up on a hill overlooking most of the city was a church that had been built long before the war with Britannia seven years ago, but it had managed to survive the war that saw Japan become Area 11. Approaching the church were Rin, Saber and Shirou with Archer following in spirit form, but due to her own inability to become a spirit Saber was wearing a dark yellow rain coat with a hood cover her head.<p>

"So the guy who oversees this war lives here?" Shirou asked.

"Yes this is Kotominie Church."

"Shirou I would like to remain outside, if this is where you will be tonight then I should be able to find you within its proximity." Saber declared to her master.

"Well alright, but if something happens then don't hesitate to come inside."

"I understand master."

"Shall we…" Rin asked gesturing for Shirou to follow her as the two entered the church.

"So Tohsaka just how much do you know about this priest anyway?"

"Well I can tell you he is a magus and he also happens to be my legal guardian…he has kinda served as my second teacher."

"He's a magus so this priest belongs to a pagan council of mages."

"Yes and that's why he can be such a pain in the ass, his name is Kirei Kotominie. He was one of my father's pupils; we have been basically forced to put up with each other for ten years now. We would've had nothing to do with each other if I had my way."

"And I would have preferred not to have a student who can't show her teacher respect." Kirei spoke as he stepped out to greet the two as Rin and Shirou stood amongst the benches in the main hall of the church.

"I brought the seventh master to meet and talk with you." Rin said getting straight to the point. "He's a magus, but he is surely lacking in training and worse he has no full idea of the gravity of the situation he is now in that I couldn't ignore it."

"Tell me my son what would your name be?"

"Shirou Emiya…"

"Well…" Kirei began with a tint of interest in his eyes that showed briefly. "Emiya…so you are Saber's master?"

"Far from it…I don't even understand what is going on. Why is there even a war for the Holy Grail?"

"I see…now I understand why Rin brought you here, but since this is the first time she has asked for my assistance I shall kindly do so. This Holy Grail War is a battle royal between seven magi and their servants until only one master and his or her servant are left standing where they receive the privilege to have their wishes granted by the Holy Grail itself."

"How can that be possible?"

"The Holy Grail can grant any wish you desire…you can even wish for all of your sins to be wiped clean from your soul or you could even start over again if you desire. The fact that powerful servants like yours and Rin should be enough to prove the Grail's power."

"Ok I'll accept the Holy Grail is the real thing, but why do you all have to fight over it."

"A fair question…however the Holy Grail won't appear to just anyone this battle is to determine who is worthy of using its power. Furthermore the other Servants must be defeated in order for the Holy Grail to be summoned forth."

"Kirei could you please cut to the chase…I brought him here so you could explain the rules." Rin impatiently requested.

"Very well…the Holy Grail War begins once all seven masters have summoned their servants and it will continue until only one Master and their servant is left. The rules are as you expected…battles are not to be witnessed by anyone other than those involved in the war, all outsiders must either have their memories altered or killed. Just as the golden rule of the Magus Association is that magic shall be kept secret the Holy Grail War strictly upholds that rule."

"But…what about the recent killings are they the result of the war?"

"I am afraid so…although of those killings and incidents involving the war have been publically declared as random homicides or for those with survivors are reported as gas leaks to hide the truth."

"But why attack innocent people?"

"It's for their Servants, because Servants themselves are spirits, so they feed on the souls of living beings in order to strength themselves and it helps them replenish their strength a lot faster as well."

Shirou was shocked by this bit of news, but the priest kept going.

"As long as they don't recklessly kill people and cause wide spread destruction masters and servants are able to do as they please, but if a Master and his Servant act too carelessly and draw too much attention which runs the risks of exposing the war to the world then as Mediator for these wars I am duty bound to do what I must in order to prevent that. That means even issuing a cease fire among the other Masters and Servants while offering a bounty of extra command seals to the one who puts an end to the rouge Master and Servant who recklessly kill and destroy violating the rules."

"Otherwise besides those rules its anything goes." Rin added.

"But how can this kind of thing be acceptable?"

"The previous wars have been brutal, but we have been able to manage them better now and minimize the damage."

"Huh…hold on are you saying you people have done these wars before. You people are crazy!"

"Our city has played host to these Holy Grail Wars, but this shall be the Fifth War. Now that you are a master you must win the grail and make your wish."

"But that doesn't justify killing people."

"Hold on you don't have to kill the masters…you can just defeat the servants." Rin jumped in offering an alternative.

"Rin is right; killing the masters isn't a requirement…only their servants must be defeated. However depending on a servant and their power…" Kirei began as Shirou instantly picked up on it.

"It's easier to kill the master."

"Correct…if a Servant cannot be beaten then you must slay the master which would then mean the end for the Servant who needs his Master to remain in this world."

"I see…"

"Knowing this what will you do? You are a master now and you cannot turn down the responsibility of a Master, but if you chose to forgo your command seals then you will have made a foolish mistake. Not to mention it would be a terrible waste of an opportunity for you."

"What do you mean I have no interest in the Holy Grail?"

"You realize the power of the grail don't you? If you wished it you could cleanse yourself of all of your sins and start again as well as heal the burn scars within you."

"But it's not worth killing over it."

"If that is how you feel then should you not take part to prevent a terrible tragedy?"

"What do you mean?"

"As I have said this is the fifth Holy Grail War and the last one was ten years ago…at the end of the last war a reckless master made a wish on the grail. It was a terrible wish which led to an incident that shook the entire civilian world…I believe it's still fresh in everyone minds." Kirei pointed out while Shirou realized which disaster he was talking about.

The great fire of Fuyuki City that claimed hundreds of lives and the cause of that fire has been a mystery for ten years.

Now it was clear that it was the result of the Holy Grail.

Shirou was shaken as all of those terrible memories of that fire came flooding back to him as he remembered the screams of those dying all around him while he alone had been able to survive. But a few moments went by before Kirei spoke again stating.

"Do you want someone with such malevolent intentions to gain the grail and unleash a disaster worse than that fire?"

"Uh…NO." Shirou declared as determination appeared in his eyes.

"Then you must decide Shirou Emiya…will you be a Master?"

"I shall, because I have to stop him I have to stop the Dark Lord and the Witch King from the getting the grail."

"Dark Lord?" Kirei asked as his curiosity had been piqued.

"That is another reason we're here tonight. It seems we have someone known as the Witch King taking part in the war possessing an Assassin servant. But the Witch King isn't human, he's something called a Nazgul."

"Go on…"

Rin explained everything they had learned about the Nazgul, the Witch King and the Dark Lord they had learned about from Archer including their fight with Rider's Master including the unusual magic and sorcery that had been employed against them. Once they were done the priest took in everything and was clearly giving it a great deal of thought.

"I see this is very troubling…I'll inform the Church and the Magus Association of this and see if I can learn more. In the meantime the Holy Grail War shall proceed…so rejoice young man for your wish shall come true."

After that Rin and Shirou left the church, but unknown to them Kirei had no intention of telling the Church and the Association of the Nazgul and the Dark Lord. In fact their appearance in this war delighted him to a degree, but he was curious and there was someone he knew who might know more in either event than what the Association and the Church would have known.

On their way back to their respective residents the group had stopped at a corner of a street as Shirou and Rin had been thinking about what to do with the involvement of the Witch King and his dark mysterious master. All in all things didn't look promising for both sides as Rin was concerned about the Dark Lord, although she was sure they could probably handle Assassin…yet the Witch King was a different story.

Of course there was Rider and her master who obviously has it out for her the Tohsaka Magus had to take into account.

As much as she didn't feel at ease about the idea Rin knew her best opinion right now was to ally with Shirou and Saber and defeat the Dark Lord and his followers since it was obvious she and Archer could be up against two masters and their servants not even considering the Nazgul. But they didn't know if the Dark Lord himself was in the war with his own servant, so that would make three servants against them.

Those were not obviously very good odds.

Of course little did the group know the odds were about to get worse for them as a little girl wearing a purple coat with a hat on top of her head with her long white hair hanging down matching her pale skin making her red eyes stand out. Sensing trouble Saber stopped and turned around seeing the young girl standing there, but she wasn't alone.

Behind her was perhaps the biggest man Shirou had ever seen…the man was a tower of solid muscle wearing what seemed to be a an old skirt of some kind around his waist with arm bands on his wrists and bands above his feet while the towering fearsome being had long dark brown hair and oddly colored adamantine skin with gross brawn which made him all the more imposing.

"Hello there Mister…" The little girl spoke. "I have been looking for you and I am so glad you have decided to fight in the war."

"A little girl?"

"Shirou get behind me." Saber cautioned stepping up to the plate while Archer materialized behind Rin.

"Good evening my name is Ilya or would it help if I said Ilyasviel von Einzbern."

"What did you say?" Rin exclaimed recognizing the surname the girl had.

"Von Einzbern?" Shirou inquired.

"They are one of the three Magus Families that send a representative to take part in the Holy Grail Wars." Rin explained while the young man found it somewhat hard to believe that this little girl was a master.

"You're a master?"

"That's right…I am going to kill you Shirou Emiya."

'_She knows me, but how?'_

The girl was obviously happy about the possibility, but before Shirou could inquire to why Ilya wants him dead the girl ordered her servant to begin his attack.

"Go get them Berserker!"

The towering Servant raised its colossal stone Axe-Club as it charged at the group with Saber throwing off the coat she had been wearing while reading her sword to attack while Archer was ready with his bow to support from the rear to fighting against the mighty servant. Saber raised her blade up and blocked the powerful swing, but the impact of Berserker's strike was enough to push Saber back while the female servant was struggling to hold back her foe's attack.

Archer fired at shot at Berserker, but was shocked to find that his arrow had no effect.

'_What is his body made of?' _

As Rin tried to figure that out Saber managed to break the deadlock between them as the blonde haired servant went on the offensive in an attempt to fight back and hopefully take down the enemy Servant. But despite his size Berserker proved to be extremely fast on its feet and its reflexes despite its complete lack of sanity was able to keep up with Saber and prevent her attacks on him.

'_Incredible, even through Berserkers trade in their sanity in exchange for immense power, thus usually a weaker heroic spirit assumes the class yet this servant had power before the trade its crazy. But his foe is no weakling...she is Saber said to be the best in close quarters combat.' _

Despite the knowledge that Saber was the best class for close quarters combat, but taking into the account that Saber was limited to only the prana she has from the time of her summoning due to her master's inability to give his servant energy so Saber was at a dangerous disadvantage. Yet there was a chance for Rin to help down Berserker if they play their cards right.

Nodding a silent order to Archer while giving him instructions to attack Ilya herself while Rin would help draw away the giant servant's attention to keep him from noticing the danger his young servant was in. Taking aim with her finger the young Magus began using her Gandr offensive spell to attack Berserker to distract him although the black bolts simply bounced harmlessly off his body.

Ilya barely noticed it, but Archer was in position and prepared an empowered shot from his bow to strike down the young girl. The shot was released, but in a single moment the giant moved to intercept the shot taking it head on blanketing the area in smoke. When the smoke cleared the giant servant was still standing as the attack didn't seem to have harmed the enemy servant in any way.

"No way, he couldn't have covered that much distance in a short time."

Rin exclaimed shocked that despite being separated from her servant, Berserker was able to come to the aid of its master and take a shot meant for her. But hearing Rin's comment Ilya began laughing before revealing a key fact about her servant.

"There is no way I'll ever be beaten because my Servant is the mighty Hercules the greatest hero of ancient Greece."

'_Hercules?'_

"It doesn't matter what servants you have none of them can win."

Ilya declared proudly as Rin realized the threat their foe posed knowing all too well about the legend of Hercules, but in truth who hasn't learned about it. Despite facing a half-god and half-man Greek hero Saber fought on with Archer about to join in and give the blonde haired girl a hand in felling the enemy Servant. The battle waged on as Saber was attempting to get pass her giant foe to attack Berserker's master head on in the hopes of ending the battle, but hesitation from the female servant at the last minute gave pause to her strike.

Thus it allowed Berserker to flank her, but Saber was barely able to deflect the blow as she was sent flying into the side of a telephone pole inflicting some minor injuries. Archer attacked from behind driving his twin swords into the giant's back finally inflicting some real damage, but all his strike did was ultimately enrage Berserker even further.

Archer held onto the giant servant's back for dear life as it tried to shake the red coat servant off of him, but Saber recovered and decided to strike at the opening in Berserker's defenses hoping she could deal some additional damage against the giant. But her sword failed to cut into Berserker's chest, however the giant Servant grabbed the blade holding it in place long enough for Berserker to let go of his weapon to punch Saber square in the head knocking her back.

Saber still held onto her sword, but she had taken a serious blow as Berserker used his free hands to grab Archer and throw the servant off of him before retrieving his weapon to attack Saber to finish her off.

The blonde haired servant was rising back up to her feet before the giant was upon her, but she failed to deflect the blow in time. However Saber did back away at the right moment to avoid a fatal finishing blow, but yet she sustained a serious injury as the club axe made contact with her abdomen leaving a deep gash going across.

"SABER!" Shirou cried out.

As Berserker was about to finish Saber off for good, Shirou did the stupidest thing he could have done since the evening began. Without thinking and the will to save the woman overriding all sense and logic the young man shielded Saber from the final blow meant for her, but in return Shirou received a fatal blow as the right side of his rib cage was taken out.

Saber and Rin were shocked while Archer was shockingly passive about what had just happened.

"Master, why would you do that?"

"But why would he?" Ilya began trying to make sense of what just happened since no one would have expected such a thing to happen.

However before anything else could happen two arrows came flying out of two where hitting Berserker square in the eyes blinding him as a familiar wizard in white made his presence known by using his staff to knock the giant servant to the ground before appearing before Rin and everyone else. Gandalf stood between Berserker and Shirou drawing his sword.

As the blinded giant tried to get up the wizard summoned a lightning bolt from the sky to charge the weapon before sinking it into Berserker's chest killing him. The giant went down like a sack of potatoes while Saber, Rin and Archer looked on in shock. But due to the nature of Berserker's Noble Phantasm the giant slowly began to rise to his feet as his sword wound began healing. Seeing the enemy Servant getting back up the white wizard gathered power to the tip of his staff before unleashing a burst of white fire directly into the servant's chest blowing up a wide hole in the Servant's body. Ilya was stunned that this old man in white had fell her servant twice, but she knew it would take a lot more than that to kill Berserker for good.

"Just what in the devil matter of creature is he?" Gandalf asked as he was trying to think of a way to presently kill the servant as it was trying to get up again.

"You can't kill Berserker…he can't die!"

Ilya declared confident in her victory, but Legolas joined Gandalf with his bow ready…yet another joined them. It was Nienna as she calmly stepped ahead of Gandalf facing Berserker directly as the recovering giant was towering over her ready to strike down the Valar Queen. Yet in a move that would surprise all the Valar Queen began singing a song of pity and moving sorrow that began to affect Berserker and Ilya as well.

The song was in a language none of the Magus and Servants could understand, but the tune and the haunting graceful melody was powerful thanks to the potent magic weaved into her words giving them piercing influence. Even the mighty Berserker began crying, but due to the Mad Enhancement he was under he slipped into a sorrow induced break down as the Berserker quite literally went completely mad with grief.

Ilya could only watch as her servant began clutching the sides of his head before the giant began slamming his fists into the ground trying to demand that the singing stop, but Nienna wouldn't falter as she kept singing with Ilya beginning to cry as all of the sad memories and sorrow she felt came back to the surface seemingly trying to show her the wrong behind her current actions.

"What are you doing to me? STOP IT!" A crying Ilya begged, but Nienna's song of power kept going.

Berserker really began to lose it as it proceeded to bang its head into the ground trying to get the music out of its head and then in an extreme act of making the music stop the Berserker suddenly beheaded himself, but due to Hercules's Noble Phantasm he began to recover as his head began regenerating. Rin and Saber watched the scene quietly, but the surprise at what was happening was all over their faces.

Suddenly Berserker vanished and Ilya was gone having fled the scene before recalling Berserker.

Nienna ended her song before turning to Rin, Saber and Archer appearing in her true appearance of a beautiful elf woman with flowing black robes while carrying a caring look in her eyes. Gandalf turned to them as well before asking.

"Are you three alright?"

The white wizard made his way over to Shirou's side while Saber was already at the side of her master.

"Who are you…are you guys another Master and Servant pair?"

"Master and Servant?" Legolas asked who was confused by the question.

"No we're not…we happened upon you all and saw that you were being attacked by that beast." Nienna explained.

"Master, why would you do that?"

Saber said as Rin looked over and was shocked to see Shirou's fatal wound healing before her eyes. A moment ago she thought Shirou had been killed, but now it seemed whatever power was behind his survivals had worked again saving his life.

"What exactly happened here?" Gandalf asked.

"We were taking part in the Holy Grail War?"

"Holy Grail War?" The white wizard inquired clearly unaware of what Rin was talking about.

"Who are you?" Archer demanded.

"His name is Gandalf, the white wizard you should show him some respect." Legolas warned.

"After what I saw him do to Berserker I'll take care to do so."

"Gandalf, the white wizard. The one who helped bring down the Dark Lord?" Saber said instantly recognizing the name as the wizard Merlin had spoke of and the one he tried in vain to be like, but he failed on a few fronts.

"That would be me young woman, but who are you?"

"I am Saber sir, but does mean you have come back to vanquish the Dark Lord once more?" Saber replied while showing the white wizard a decent amount of respect.

"Once more…then have you encountered Sauron then?"

"Sauron?" Rin asked wondering if that was the Dark Lord's name.

"The Dark Lord Sauron…I am here trying to find him and confirm if he has returned."

"We encountered Nazgul earlier this evening led by one called the Witch King." Archer added which stunned Gandalf as he didn't expect the Nine to return. The situation wasn't looking good and the group was drawn to the surges of power they were feeling from the direction of Fuyuki City, but also the news of these mysterious gas leaks further demanded investigation.

Legolas thought they weren't going to find anything, but now it seemed they had suddenly found the trail they had been hoping to find that would lead them to the Dark Lord who was indeed active in Japan.

"Sauron is alive, but how could that be?" Gandalf thought out loud as he had witnessed Sauron's fall eons ago so his return was something that shouldn't have happened.

"This Dark Lord Sauron he is involved in a battle royal called the Holy Grail Wars to fight for the right to make a wish on the Holy Grail." Rin spoke wishing to hook the White Wizard's attention.

"Holy Grail…a wish…I see would you mind telling us more, but I think we should get this young man indoors." Gandalf suggested while Legolas went to help Saber carry Shirou.

"Of course, but I do have a lot of questions."

"So do I…"

Gandalf replied to Rin as the group began making their way to the Emiya Estate, but unknown to them everything that had happened was observed by the Dark Lord Lelouch who was not only shocked to see Gandalf in Fuyuki City, but Nienna one of the Queens of the Valar present with him as well. Lelouch removed his hand from the palantir…he felt a familiar tingle a few minutes ago so he investigated the source, but now their appearance stands to possibly complicate his plans.

Or did they, as a smile appeared on Lelouch's face suggesting otherwise.

"Interesting, but for a Queen of the Valar to come here then I wonder…" Lelouch began as he was thinking to himself as Medea approached with a question.

"What does their appearance mean?"

"It means that the Valar know of my return, but they are likely curious about my rebirth…yet I suspect there is more to it."

"What will you do Master?"

"Nothing…I'll let them be for now, but given their appearance there is another matter I must address. It has been becoming a growing thorn in my side with the vampire activity in Misaki beginning to work against me especially with Satsuki's little sister becoming one. Not to mention I have heard that some of my men attempting to trade for arms were attacked and killed by these vampires." Lelouch began as he knew the source of the problem, so he needed to kill the source of the problem itself.

Closing his eyes the Dark Lord reached out to the Witch King and the Ringwraiths who were traveling with the Lord of the Nazgul back to the Tokyo Settlement.

'_Witch King, heed my words for I have a mission for you once again. A problem has come to my attention and it needs to be dealt with.'_

'_I am yours to command master, what is my task?'_

'_Excellent…here is your mission.' _

* * *

><p>Later that night out in a small base the Witch King and his followers had created near one of the exits of the old subway tunnels sat a young woman who was seated at a wooden table working with scrap metal laid out before her. She was quiet as the only words heard from here were <em>Bend<em> with the metal before her bending into an array of different shapes.

The girl wore a black dress with long sleeves that ended with small cuffs at the end and a turtle neck collar giving it more of a clerical robe style, but it was actually based off of her old school uniform after it had been ruined when the Witch King and the Dark Lord had first found her. She had long purple hair, a fair skin complexion with amethyst eyes.

It was seven months ago when the Witch King was making arrangements for he and a few members of his group to meet up with some arm traders in an old abandoned bar, Lelouch had also come to meet with their group before hand as well but when they arrived to check if it was all clear for the meeting they found a gang who were in the process of brutally raping the poor girl.

The Witch King and the Dark Lord had both agreed on clearing them out, but he would have killed the girl as well because she was a witnessed had they not suddenly witnessed something that drew the Lord of the Nazgul's attention and the Dark Lord. The Witch King killed two of them while Lelouch savagely killed three, but the girl they had been raping using what appeared to be some kind of ESP power to kill one of her tormenters in a display that impressed even the Lord of the Nazgul and of course the Dark Lord.

Tending to her the Witch King under Lelouch's orders recovered the girl and she has been in their care for the past seven months, but wishing to see about helping her develop her powers seeing someone like her could be of use the Dark Lord Lelouch had her go to a remote base and hideout on the outskirts of Osaka between Fuyuki and the Tokyo Settlement giving the woman a place to freely develop her Mystic Eyes of Distortion. She received visits from either the Lord of the Nazgul or sometimes Lelouch himself.

The Witch King entered the room Fujino Asagami had called home for the past seven months since her recovery.

"Fujino…the Dark Lord has a mission and he has suggested you accompany me." The Witch King spoke as Fujino turned around in her chair as her savor stood inside her room.

"Hai…I will gladly accompany you Witch King-sama." Fujino replied before leaving her chair to stand up to give the Witch King proper respect by bowing before him.

"We're going to Misaki…we're hunting for a vampire who can reincarnate. He has begun causing the master grief so it is our task to eliminate him…permanently."

Fujino was eager to prove herself to her savors especially with how much her powers have grown. They had done much for her already so it was only proper she sought to repay them for the kindness they had shown her.

Following close behind Fujino followed the Witch King.

* * *

><p>AN: Well Gandalf and co has arrived in Fuyuki and they have joined up with Shirou, Rin, Saber and Archer so things are looking up for them. But now we're introduced to the Witch King's new helper and servant who will be going to take part in her first mission for the Dark Lord. Fujino Asagami from Kara no Kyoukai is one of the members of their resistance group and have been honing her powers in safety since her discovery by the Witch King and Lelouch.

Don't forget to vote in my new poll on my profile page and I'll likely close it once I get at least 30 votes. There are 19 at the time of this chapter's posting so at least 11 more are needed. I might hold out until forty depending if I have any ties or anything of the short.

And be sure to check out the new short story I made in relation to this story…thank you all for reading and see you all in the next chapter.


	9. Chapter 9 Stepping up

A/N: Well here is chapter nine and a lot more happens with some fighting and a prelude to a major battle to be fought. One that was coming, but now the war will rise to a new level soon. Thank you all for voting in the poll, but while I have a two way tie right now the winners are Rider, Sakura and C.C, but the last three spots are in a near/tie so to settle it I have made a tie breaker poll on my profile page please check it out after reading this chapter.

Thanks and now enjoy the chapter.

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><p>Chapter 9<p>

Stepping up

Later the following night it was just getting close to three am in the morning as Shiki Tohno in the company of another arrived outside of Misaki Private Academy where the two suspected where Arcueid Brunestud has gone after leaving Shiki's company earlier after the two had spent time alone together earlier during the evening, but when Shiki awoke he found the True Ancestor gone leaving a note with a simple message on it.

'_Good Bye'_

Shiki knew Arcueid has gone after Michael Roa Valdamjong, whose latest incarnation was in the body of the real Shiki Tohno. Shiki was the sole survivor of a raid carried out on the Nanaya Clan by the Tohno Family years before who was adopted by the Tohno Family, but following the incident that saw Shiki killed after the real Shiki Tohno had gave in to his demon impulses and killed him.

But he survived only by Akiha Tohno's intervention who had given some of her life force in order to save Shiki's life, so in order to cover up what had happened due to the Tohno Family's prestige among the people of Japan Shiki Nanaya took Shiki Tohno's place. Now the two boys were meeting again, but this time lives were at stake and because of Roa a large number of people have already lost their lives.

The young man wasn't alone in his search he had another young woman with him who had short blue hair wearing a sleeveless one piece uniform with a skirt and thigh-high boots with small steel plates on the feet while she wore fingerless gloves.

"We should spilt up from here on out…it would be foolish for us to confront Roa head on."

Ciel cautioned as they were certain that both Arcueid and Roa were inside the school before them likely locked in combat between one another.

"Right…but I hope we're not too late."

"I know, but remember what I told you. Roa had stolen some of Arcueid's power so he's extremely dangerous."

"I understand Ciel-sempai."

"Good luck…"

"Likewise…"

Before the two could precede a bone chilling screech of death echoed through the air giving cause for the two to pause. The terrible cry they heard was from a Nazgul because on the third floor of the school inside Arcueid was on the ground recovering from one of Roa's attacks while the vampire himself within the body of the young man that was the original Shiki Tohno with white hair, pale skin and red eyes wearing a black shirt and matching pants with a coat while he had bandages wrapped around one side of his face.

Behind the True Ancestor were two of the Nazgul standing perfectly still like a pair of statues while behind Roa stood the Witch King of Angmar. After that cry of death the Nazgul stepped out from the shadows to confront the two vampires, although their primary target was Roa the Witch King was awaiting orders as to what to do with the True Ancestor.

Drawing Arondight the Witch King held it before him with both hands as the sword was pointed towards the ceiling with his grip upon the handle tightening. The other two Nazgul did the same drawing their own pale swords and preparing themselves for combat. Roa regarded the Witch King already aware of the fact that the cloaked beings surrounding him weren't human.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Witch King and you must be Roa. You have caused my master grief with your actions…our men cannot operate in this city and acquire weapons as well as new recruits if you and your vampire lackeys keep attacking them. Thus my master's will is this…death to Roa, but you won't be reincarnating this time…my master has prepared something special for you."

"You can't kill me?"

"We shall see, but as for you Miss Brunestud my master was wondering if you would be interested in joining him…he could aid you in suppressing your need for blood." The Witch King replied before turning his attention to the True Ancestor.

"I serve no one." '

"Most unfortunate…we have no specific orders regarding you, but for seeing us we might have to deal with you."

Roa suddenly attempted to attack Witch King with his knife attempting to strike one of his lines although to the vampire possessing Mystic Eyes of Death Perception he wasn't actually able to see any lines on the Witch King at all, but Roa was hoping a surprise attack would leave the Nazgul vulnerable. The moment his knife touched the body of the Nazgul, striking in-between an open gap within the armor, it disintegrated instantly.

At the same time Roa's hand that had held it suffered an unseen wound that had seemingly badly burned his hand.

Arcueid observed as her questions about the beings before tem were raised, but the True Ancestor didn't have much time to think on the matter as the Nazgul behind her were beginning to advance upon her while Roa and the Witch King became engaged in mortal combat. Swing his blade vertically the Lord of the Nazgul took off Roa's arms, but as they were beginning to regenerate the vampire fought back as a fierce battle broke out.

* * *

><p>On the lower floors Shiki was making his way up the stairs when he felt chills run across his skin while he felt the entire building shake. But when he arrived on the second floor he found what appeared to be discarded clothes lying about in the hallway. The majority of them were a different mix of casual wear; none of them were school uniforms leading the young man to assume these were the <em>remains <em>of the Dead, lesser vampires, which Roa had created to act as his servants to gather blood for him.

Shiki continued on hurrying to the third floor, but he didn't pay the scene too much mind assuming that either Ciel had come by and killed them or it was Arcueid who had killed them, but little did the young man realize that it was none of them. Inside a class room Fujino had cornered the last of the lesser vampire servants of Roa. It seemed they were going to back Roa up, but thanks to Fujino and the Nazgul assisting her in the clean up the evil vampire wasn't going to receive any reinforcements.

The last lesser vampire was of a young woman, likely a high school student judging by her uniform. She was scarred out of her wits as Fujino just stared at the undead woman coldly. Knowing she was going to die the young girl launched herself at the purple haired woman who simply said.

"Bend!"

Before the vampire could even get close axes materialized around her before the undead woman was viciously dismembered within a few seconds before her mind could even register what had happened. The look of absolute shock was frozen on her face briefly before it and the rest of her severed limbs turned to dust leaving nothing behind except for her clothes.

Fujino looked down at the clothes the vampire had left behind after or rather the shredded remains of them before turning to her Nazgul companion inquiring.

"Is that all of them?"

"Besides Roa and that woman he was fighting with that was the last of them, but…" The Nazgul replied as it began sniffing the air. "I smell two new arrivals, one is a human and the other smells human…yet she is different."

"Then could she be the Burial Agency member, and the human with her is Shiki Tohno?"

"I believe so…Shiki's scent is familiar to me."

"Should we attack them?"

The Nazgul communicated with the Dark Lord before giving a response.

"Nay…the master says let them be."

"Then I'll do as he commands then."

Fujino replied before dusting herself off before she and the Nazgul left the room to wait for their fellow comrades to finish up, but as Fujino walked ahead of the Nazgul her mind drifted for a moment eager to see the Dark Lord. The man who was the benefactor behind the being who had saved her when she was being cruelly raped…when no one else came to save her the Nazgul came.

In fact she oddly felt more comfortable being around the Nazgul than people, especially the Witch King whom she enjoyed serving. Yet it was the Dark Lord who had her upmost admiration given that the Witch King served the Dark Lord, so she sought to serve him in any capacity she could.

'_I will serve you Dark Lord…whatever you want of me I shall give it.'_

Fujino thought as she and the Nazgul continued down the dark hallway to find a safe place to await further orders.

* * *

><p>On the third floor Roa was thrown through a wall crashing through a row of desks as the Lord of the Nazgul followed after him, but attack from the window was Assassin coming to aid his master. Attacking from behind the vampire the ninja hurled shurikens with wires attached to them as they began wrapping around Roa immobilizing the vampire leaving him open for attack.<p>

Roa fought desperately against his bounds, but the wires held firm although one of the dozen metal wires holding him in place snapped, but at this point the Lord of the Nazgul drew a special golden dagger with a green gem within the hilt. With it he plunged it into the vampire's chest nearly impaling the blade through the original Shiki Tohno's body.

"Do you think that puny weapon will kill me?" The possessed Shiki mocked.

"Kill you…no, but this dagger was designed special for you. Not for you specifically per se, but rather it was designed to capture souls and imprison them." The Witch King explained as Roa felt the magic dagger take effect as his life force essence along with his soul was being sucked into the dagger as the Witch King withdrew it.

Roa tried in vain to break free, but it was too late as the dagger had pierced his soul and it was ripped from his body causing his now soulless shell to turn to dust while the dagger's green gem held the vampire's reincarnating soul captive.

"A dagger that captures souls, an interesting weapon...but now I must ask that you hand it over." Spoke a familiar female voice coming from the hole in the wall that led out into the hall. The Witch King turned and saw Ciel standing here armed with six black keys, three for each hand standing there. "What exactly are you?"

"My mission is complete, but come not between the Nazgul and his prey! Or he will not slay thee in thy turn. He will bear thee away to the houses of lamentation, beyond all darkness, where thy flesh shall be devoured, and thy shriveled mind be left naked to the Lidless Eye." The Witch King spoke as Ciel didn't seem to back down.

"You will not escape…I will have that dagger."

"Thou fool…you cannot stop me. No living man may hinder me!"

"Then it's a good thing I am a woman and not a man." Ciel replied with a smirk.

The Witch King surprisingly chuckled at that remark while the laugh sent chills down even Ciel's spine.

"I once heard the same thing and I did fell to a woman. Sadly I believe that you fall too short of the one that brought me down on my first demise. Nevertheless, that was a lesson that I learned very well."

The Witch King moved to attack Ciel moving at a blinding speed which even the seasoned hunter had trouble keeping up with, but the situation was made worse when Assassin decided to support his master with the use of smoke bombs to blind the young woman while the Witch King could still find Ciel easily using smell and hearing alone.

The girl barely had a chance to block as the Witch King kicked her, but she held up her black keys in time to shield herself. But the impact was enough to send her out the hole in the wall behind her and then out the window. The Burial Agency member was falling to the ground when the Lord of the Nazgul leapt out of the window in pursuit of his foe, but seeing an opportunity to strike Ciel hurled her Black Keys at the malevolent being.

But to her shock he caught two of them and used them to swiftly deflect the rest of them, but instead of reverting back to pages from the bible the Black Keys held by the Witch King became enveloped in dark magic of the foulest kind. Ciel landed on the ground as the young woman materialized more Black Keys to use against the Nazgul Lord, but no matter how many she conjured her foe deflected them with relative ease.

"These are fine daggers…they are quite nice to behold. Here you can…have them back."

The Lord of the Nazgul spoke as he hurled the two daggers one right after the other with one piercing Ciel's shoulder pinning her to a tree while the other struck her directly in the forehead seemingly killing her. The woman died instantly from the blow with the Witch King certain he had won the battle and rather disappointingly easily killed the Burial Agency assassin having expected more of a fight.

As the Witch King turned around to walk away he felt something sharp pierce his back a moment later. One of the Black Keys he had just used against Ciel while another strike the ground behind him hitting his shadow, but instead of immobilizing him the Lord of the Nazgul turned around as the Black Key crumbled into ash after touching his wraith body.

The Lord of the Nazgul to his surprise saw that Ciel was alive as the wounds he inflicted upon her moments ago close up before his eyes as if time was going backwards for her. Yet the young woman was shocked that the Witch King was still moving as her Black Key had failed to do any harm to him, but the one she struck his shadow with meant to immobilize him failed to do so.

"Interesting…you can't die it seems. Perhaps this fight will be a worthy test of my new powers after all."

"How are you still moving?"

"Your black key if it strikes my shadow should have left me frozen in place. But my master had a suspicion about that and it seems he was right…the accord protects us from your church's weapons and sacraments."

"What?"

"You don't need to know, but I will defeat you woman…if I can't kill you then I'll just have to deal with you in another way." The Witch King replied darkly as he drew Arondight holding it in one hand, but in his other hand he drew a Morgul Blade.

As round two of their battle took place Shiki arrived on the third floor found Arcueid ahead of him down the hall fending off attacks from the two Nazgul. She was fighting cautiously after seeing what happened to Roa's knife and his hand avoiding physical contact with them. Drawing his own knife for combat Shiki was rushing to attack the cloaked figures attacking the blonde haired woman.

Aware of Shiki's presence as his hurrying footsteps alerted her Arcueid saw the young man with his knife drawn. Knowing what he would do unless she warns him the True Ancestor spoke.

"Shiki don't stab them with your knife! Avoid physical contact with them!"

Shiki stopped in his tracks as he had removed his glasses before drawing his knife looked upon the Nazgul. In contrast to everything else that had lines the Nazgul bore none that he couldn't see…he saw something that seem like lines momentary fade in and out, but otherwise the young man was having a hard time trying to see them on the two cloaked figures before him.

"Trust me Shiki…Roa stabbed one of them and his knife was destroyed upon contact with his hand suffering a terrible injury." Arcueid warned not wishing to see what would happen if a human strikes a Nazgul. Even if he could see their lines or not the young woman wasn't sure if his knife would last long enough for him to cut the line.

"But how do I fight them?"

"You can't, but I can."

Arcueid's eyes glowed yellow for a moment as she focused her power and made the Nazgul before her seemingly explode as black cloth and bits of chain mail armor was sent flying. Grabbing the Nazgul's dropped sword the True Ancestor hurled it like a spear into the chest of the other Nazgul before pulling a locker off the wall behind her and using it as a make shift bat to send the Nazgul out the window.

The other one the True Ancestor had blown apart was trying to pull itself together and hold onto its place on the physical realm by means of the remains of its robes and armor. The Nazgul tried to stagger back to its feet, but its armor was barely holding together yet it still had enough shape to remain a possible threat as it drew its Morgul Blade to fight back.

Breaking open a glass case that held a fire hose and an axe the young man pulled the hose out and began turning the water value before taking aim with the hose Shiki was holding. A powerful surge of water shot out of the hose and knocked the Nazgul off its feet. The Nazgul began screaming as Shiki instantly felt weak in the knees as a fear began to overtake his senses causing him to falter as he lowered the hose.

The Nazgul aimed to throw its Morgul Blade, but as he let the dagger fly the True Ancestor jumped and tackled the young man saving him from a knife to the head.

Arcueid was shaken and oddly afraid for reasons the True Ancestor couldn't understand, but she wasn't going to let it stop her from protecting Shiki as she turned to the Nazgul that came close to killing the young man she has come to love with intense rage in her eyes as they glowed bright yellow with a potent kind of ferocity hardly seen in them.

"DON'T EVER…TOUCH HIM!"

With a sudden explosion of rage an unseen force mightier than the one that had blown apart a good part of his robes and armor sent the Nazgul flying down the hall, the through wall at the end and a good five yards through the air before crashing into the side of a small three story building next to the academy. With the two Nazgul gone the True Ancestor tended to Shiki checking if he was alright, but with the Ringwraith gone whatever fear had gripped his heart was gone.

Even the vampire noticed the same fear that chilled her own bones had suddenly faded as well.

'_Just what are those creatures?' _

For the many years the True Ancestor had been alive never in her life has she encountered such creatures, but she couldn't tell if they were some kind of evil spirit possessing armor and robes or something else altogether. She didn't have too much time to think about it as Shiki recovered instantly from whatever had affected him, but outside a loud explosion hooked their attention.

* * *

><p>Ciel was hard pressed on the defensive as she dodged another strike from a release of dark power from the corrupted holy weapon the Witch King was wielding against her, but to make matters worse the Lord of the Nazgul's servant the ninja Hanzo Hattori was attacking from different directions at a time attempting to decapitate the young woman with either his katana or a chain and sickle.<p>

It was amazing that the Burial Agency member had managed to hold her own against two opponents, but when channeling his own dark powers through the blade the Witch King unleashed a destructive force of dark energy which demolished the gym building that had been behind Ciel. Despite holding a weapon like Arondight and a Morgul Blade at the same time the Lord of the Nazgul displayed his formidable skills as a warrior by wielding both weapons with terrifying ease and effectiveness.

Ciel was forced to bring out her strongest weapon the Seventh Holy Scripture firing a shot at the Lord of the Nazgul, but the Witch King deflected the shot with his sword although the impact pushed him back. Before Ciel could fire another shot Assassin attacked trying to strangle her from behind with some wire, but the blue haired woman evaded and moved to counter attack.

The agent tried to shoot Assassin, but before she could get a clear shot some smoke bombs were thrown around her blinding her once again as suddenly three different attacks happened to her at once as shurikens narrowly missing her torso cut her arms before a kunai knife embedded itself into her left shoulder blade before Ciel stepped to the side to avoid a katana thrown at her. All three attacks came at her at once from different directions, but the woman was barely able to evade with one of them making a direct hit.

Yet while she saw one Assassin, Ciel did question if there was really only one.

The Witch King was upon again, but this time she was forced to use her weapon to parry his strike. With the Nazgul Lord supernatural monstrous strength bearing down upon Ciel trying to overpower her as the woman struggled against his terrible might. Unable to fight back in this state Ciel scrambled to think of something knowing an attack from Assassin could likely happen at any moment now.

But before it came the Lord of the Nazgul began screaming his terrible cry of death while giving Ciel a face full of Black Breath. The scream alone caused the spirit within her weapon to panic while Ciel herself felt her limbs beginning to weaken as a terrible poison began working through her. A heavy drowsiness began to overcome Ciel as she was slowly losing consciousness while her body became cold.

Unable to hold back the Witch King's might followed after a kunai knife striking Ciel in the back of her left knee the Witch King knocked the weapon from the woman's hand before swiftly using his other hand to stab her in the left shoulder below the collar bone with the dreaded Morgul Blade causing the worse pain imaginable to shoot through Ciel's entire body.

Ciel began screaming in agony as she fell to her back while barely still conscious while one hand instinctively went to the wound, but yet it didn't fade as the pain grew worse. Sheathing his sword the Witch King gazed upon his foe muttering.

"Not even a woman can defeat me now, even one who cannot die."

The Witch King and Assassin made their leave with Arcueid and Shiki running to the downed Burial Agency member screaming as the pain and agency she was experiencing was steadily getting worse. The young man knelt down next to his sempai and cradling her body in his arms as he realized to his horror that her body was ice cold.

Shiki was horrified by the state the woman he called sempai was in, but he saw the wound in her shoulder while near her was the discarded Morgul Blade the Witch King had dropped in his haste to flee the area. Easily deducing that the blade left behind was responsible and fearing his sempai didn't have a lot of time as she seemed to be rapidly deteriorating. With his glasses still off Shiki saw something moving inside Ciel as he saw purple lines spreading from an object within her shoulder.

'_Could that be the source?'_

Not knowing what else to do the young man readied his knife before Shiki hesitantly, but carefully struck the line for what was the poison coursing through her as an object was digging its way to her heart. Ciel was in pain, but it was nothing compared to what she was enduring now. Shiki cut the lines of the foreign object within her as it vanished along with the foreign substance that had been growing around it.

Although Ciel's suffering eased a little, but the pain didn't and something else was tormenting the young woman as Shiki could do nothing further. Suddenly the loud roar of motorcycles could be heard as the Witch King along with his servant Assassin were riding off with two of the Ringwraiths following behind them on their own bikes.

Acting quickly Arcueid seized a broke piece of asphalt and hurled it at the Nazgul taking up the rear knocking the creature off his bike.

"Arcueid!" Shiki cried out while holding Ciel's body.

"Take care of her I'll be right back!"

Hurrying off to seize the Nazgul's bike before the dark creature could recover the True Ancestor took off in pursuit for the other Ringwraiths, but the lone Nazgul that had been left behind eyed a school bus that was parked on the far side of the school parking lot. On the road riding away from the school the Witch King and his servant took point while behind them followed the lone Nazgul as the group realized one of their own had been knocked off his bike while at that moment the True Ancestor Princess was closing in from behind.

'_Just like in the video game…'_

Arcueid thought remembering the life-like motorcycle game at the arcade she had tried out. It was different, but it handled almost the same.

But coming up from behind a safe distance away was a school bus with a Ringwraith behind the wheel trying to catch up and go after the woman who had the nerve to steal his ride. The other Nazgul riding behind the Witch King turned and went to engage the True Ancestor drawing his pale sword to use it either strike down or disable the motorcycle the vampire was using.

The other Ringwraith behind Arcueid was picking up speed trying to run her down. The blonde haired rider veered to the side to evade the oncoming attacks riding on the sidewalk, but the other Nazgul on his bike was approaching ready to behead her if the True Ancestor wasn't careful. The bus couldn't get behind her with all of the street lamps blocking which would only work against the Nazgul, however he was right there to run the vampire down.

Taking hold of a stop sign to use as a make shift jousting lance Arcueid used it to parry blows from the Nazgul on his bike as he attacked with his sword, however the vampire kept him at by with her own weapon she was wielding. Making a hard right to keep up with the Witch King and his servant as the two made a sharp turn at an intersection heading for the highway. Yet seeing an opportunity the True Ancestor turned around and rammed the Stop sign into the Nazgul's stomach knocking him off his motorcycle before turning around again sharply to avoid getting run down by the bus.

The Nazgul driving the bus instead ran over his own comrade, but it didn't stop him from continuing his pursuit against the vampire.

On the highway now the Witch King rode on ahead with Assassin coming around from the right as the two were passing a tank truck pulling two tanks full of fuel. Drawing his sword the Lord of the Nazgul slashed apart the ties on the right side before speeding up to get clear as Assassin used some small explosives to send the vehicle veering off to the right where the first section flipped over exploding into a giant fireball blocking the road causing the second tank of fuel it was hauling to explode as well.

Arcueid tried to slow down, but the bus chasing her accelerated and tried to either run her down or force her into the explosion that had blanked the road ahead with flames. It was only fortunate that there was no one else traveling on the highway at this hour. Turning around the vampire threw her stop sign like a spear straight at the Nazgul stunning him along enough for the blonde rider to get out of his way while the Nazgul drove into the giant fireball colliding with the wreckage of the destroyed double tank truck.

Arcueid tried to find another way to continue pursuit, but the bus exploding sent her crashing into the side. She recovered quickly, but by the time she found a way around the wall of fire the Witch King and his servant was gone. The Nazgul driving the bus lost his robes and thusly his ability to interact with the physical world so he now had to return to their master for new robes and armor as well.

Unable to continue her pursuit Arcueid went to look for Shiki, but unknown to them the chase was merely a diversion to draw their attention from Fujino who was carrying the dagger possessing Roa's soul as she made her way across town towards a clearing in the forest near the Tohno Estate. It was there that Fujino had instructions to await pick up where she and the dagger would be taken to Minas Morgul.

Descending from the sky on the back of a fell beast was Lelouch himself grabbed in black robes with a hood hiding his face. He landed the large creature in the middle of the grove before a stunned Fujino who was looking upon the Dark Lord for the first time in a month since she had last met him.

As much as she did enjoy the company of the Nazgul at times seeing the Dark Lord as a handsome young man brought a light blush to her cheeks. Thankfully for her the Dark Lord wasn't paying attention at that moment to notice. Instead Lelouch was concerned about the fact that the Witch King and the Nazgul were seen by the True Ancestor. The Burial Agency member wasn't much of a problem since she will likely become a Lesser Wraith soon if she hasn't already, but the Dark Lord didn't sense it had happened yet.

'_No matter I need to deal with one issue at a time. Although such an action and event was inevitable I suppose.' _

Lelouch gave his full attention to Fujino as he greeted the young woman politely.

"Good evening, but I think given the early hour I believe it's more proper I should say good morning?"

"My lord…" Fujino said timidly while dropping to one knee to bow before the Witch King's master.

"There is no need for that here Fujino…please stand."

The Dark Lord asked after dismounting his Fell Beast and walked up to the kneeing woman putting his index and middle finger under her chin to prompt her to stand. Fujino was hesitant, because she was in awe at the being before her as she was usually whenever she dealt with Lelouch. He looked handsome, but even she could feel the power lurking deep within him although he was suppressing his power to avoid detection.

"You have done well this evening, but come we shouldn't linger."

"Yes my lord."

Fujino promptly followed Lelouch as he remounted his fell beast, but this time the young woman joined him in the saddle riding behind him as she held on. With a tight pull on the reins the Fell Beast took to the skies and began flying away into the night back towards Minas Morgul. Fujino couldn't help, but blush as she rested her head against Lelouch's back.

Lelouch didn't think too much of it other than likely assuming the woman was tried…it was after all very early in the morning and Fujino had been awake more or less the entire night although he could feel her chest pressing against his back.

* * *

><p>However their presence didn't go completely unnoticed as the Dark Lord's presence caught the attention of another who was standing out on the balcony of her room looking out at the clearing in the distance. Akiha stood there wearing her light blue nightgown as her long brown hair was moving with the cold wind blowing pass her as her blue eyes seemed distant…entranced somehow.<p>

Suddenly her brown hair began to change color becoming blood red as she muttered a few words.

"I must return…"

* * *

><p>The following morning Shirou awoke in his bed much to his surprise having for the most part expected not to awake at all, but there was that possible of all he had experienced the night before to be a very surreal dream. Getting up Shirou found that he was wearing a white shirt instead of the school uniform he had on last night.<p>

Feeling weak, but alright for the most Shirou exited his room and started heading for the kitchen.

What he found there surprised him as he entered the dining room to find Saber, Gandalf, Nienna, Legolas and Rin gathered around the table enjoying tea. T he group had been in the middle of a conversation when Shirou had suddenly arrived after recovering.

"Well it's good to see you amongst the living young man." Gandalf said greeting Shirou.

"I am glad to see that you are finally awake master." Saber commented with a sign of relieve on her face.

"Thanks, but I don't quite remember what happened last night."

"You did something very stupid that's what happened, but what happened was the night before last…you have slept for almost two days." Rin snapped shooting a look at the young man while Shirou was stunned by that revelation. "I can't believe you tried to shield Saber like that. You are pretty damn luck to be alive." The young magus shouted as she looked ready to fly over the table to tackle and then strangle Shirou for his foolishness.

"I am sorry, but I just couldn't watch Saber get battered like that."

"You shouldn't apologize to me you should be apologizing to Saber. Had you died then Saber would have been gone too."

"WHAT?"

"Rin is right…a Master and his Servant are linked. Had you died then without you I would have faded away." Saber replied adding to what Rin pointed out.

Shirou didn't exactly like how Rin and Saber were ganging up on him, but after taking a moment to think about the matter logically he understood that their words made sense as well as recalling part of the conversation about the war he had with Kotominie the night before last. If you can't kill the servant then its best to kill the Master instead thus eliminating the servant in the process since a servant without a master will fade.

Basically his attempt to shield Saber from harm had made the situation worse instead of helping it.

"Ok…you're right I was being too reckless last night, but it was difficult to watch a woman get battered like that."

"Then if you don't want it happening again then you need to get your head in the game Shirou. The situation is a lot worse than we thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you think I have just being having idle chat with these folks all this time?" Rin asked while feeling annoyed with Shirou being seemingly obvious to the facts before him. "But I think I need to introduce our new friends here…they bailed us out of trouble after that stupid stunt of yours. This is Gandalf the White, Nienna a Queen of the Valar and Legolas an elf prince."

Shirou was bewildered…the night before he learned about the Holy Grail War, summoned heroic spirits, but now it seemed his entire world had literally been turned upside down now.

"I had a hard time processing this myself to be fair."

Rin said modesty, but she was stunned by all she was learning. She had been told things Magus would kill to gain knowledge of, but the things she was told about the Dark Lord Sauron were deeply troubling to say the least. She was told the entire history involving the Dark Lord Sauron, the forging of the rings of power and the wars that followed ending with the final battle that led to the Dark Lord's defeat.

In turn Rin brought Gandalf and his allies up to speed explaining the Holy Grail War as well as current events involving Area 11 which was formerly Japan up until seven years ago when it was conquered by the aggressive and tyrannical Holy Britannian Empire. Gandalf was troubled by the Dark Lord's likely involvement in the Holy Grail War, but that didn't quite compare to the revelation that the Nine Ringwraiths had also returned.

The situation thus far looked grim.

"I am sorry I am standing here looking like an idiot, but I am Shirou Emiya."

"It's a pleasure to meet you young man, but I am surprised you survived after enduring such a terrible wound." Gandalf said politely to the young man after he had properly introduced himself.

"I know…I am a little surprised myself."

"I am actually beginning to wonder if there is something at work within you." Rin wondered as she eyed the young man.

"I don't think there should be." Shirou replied, but Saber had her own suspicions as well. "Anyway what exactly have I missed?"

"It's a long story and that's an understatement upon itself." Rin replied.

* * *

><p>Around the same time back in Misaki Town; Shiki began to stir after oversleeping again in his bed, but given what happened last night it shouldn't surprise anyone he was still asleep. However instead of waking up on his own as he should have Shiki was suddenly awoken by Kohaku abruptly with Arcueid providing assistance. When Hisui failed to wake the sleeping young man she sought Kohaku for help who in turn received help from Arcueid who had an idea that was certain to wake him up.<p>

Carrying the young man out of his room and to the nearest bathroom where a tub filled with cold water and ice cubes was waiting. The two women unceremoniously dumped Shiki in who instantly awoke and was scrambling like mad to get out of the water where he saw Kohaku and Arcueid looking down on him while Shiki didn't approve of their method of waking him up.

"Arcueid…Kohaku…WHY did you two throw me into a tub?"

"Forgive us for worrying, but I thought you might want to know your sister Akiha has gone missing." Arcueid said with a matter of fact tone with her arms crossed over her chest.

"WHAT?"

"I am sorry Master Shiki, but Miss Akiha disappeared last night. I went to find her when she didn't come for breakfast and found her room empty."

"But how? I mean…did anyone break in?"

"I took a look around, but there was no sign of forced entry nor was there any sign of a struggle. Akiha has seemed to have left of her own accord." Arcueid answered while Kohaku nodded in agreement.

"I checked all of the doors and windows, but I found nothing to indicate there was a break in either."

Shiki's mind was whacked with worry to the point where the chilling water of the tub he was still in didn't bother him, but Arcueid was also concerned as something about the situation seemed off. Yet she was still thinking about Ciel's current condition. The Burial Agency member was alive, but barely as the woman was still unconscious suffering from what appeared to be a deadly case of hyperthermia. But the True Ancestor knew that given Ciel's condition and inability to die until Roa is destroyed for good the blue haired woman shouldn't be in such shape.

Unless what she was suffering from was indeed magically induced.

It had something to do with the dagger Ciel was stabbed with, although the dagger blade crumbled to dust the hilt remained. Its design and make wasn't anything the True Ancestor had ever seen before. The Nazgul as they called themselves were unlike any beings Arcueid had encountered. She couldn't think of anything concrete, but holding the cursed weapon alone in her hands left a very uncomfortable sensation traveling through her.

The presence of the Nazgul alone left a disturbing and uneasy feeling in her mind and Shiki even mentioned feeling something similar.

But now that Akiha was gone the situation was going from bad to worse.

* * *

><p>On the outskirts of Fuyuki City the Dark Lord Lelouch was observing the Einzbern Mansion through the palantir where he saw Ilya having confined herself in her room was crying trying to recover from the effects of Nienna's song of power. Berserker had returned to normal, but Ilya's current state had left her servants worried for her well being.<p>

Lelouch grinned contemplating what to do with the young girl. Her servant would make excellent _fuel _for the completion of his weapon needing to bathe it in the blood of his enemies. The stronger the better and Hercules apart from Gilgamesh who he knew would make an appearance in this war in due time was among the strongest of servants.

Last night's events vexed Lelouch's slightly, but the evening wasn't a total loss as he now had the soul of Michael Roa Valdamjong. The Dark Lord could unmake his soul, but he had another idea for the vampire who he intends to use his soul to help fuel the completion of his new sword which would unmake it in the process thus killing the Serpent of Akasha once and for all.

Yet most important of all he did confirm that the Witch King and likely by extension the Nazgul including himself were immune to all scared sacraments and holy weapons wielded by the church as part of the accord made when he was reincarnated. Although he was sure Ciel's Seventh Holy Scripture wasn't going to work, but due to the _potency_ of its power he didn't want to risk his strongest champion the Witch King to test that.

Lelouch couldn't help, but laugh as he finally remembered the last memory of Sauron as his disembodied and crippled script wandered in the shadows of the wilderness until…Eru approached him. Sauron was terrified as he feared the creator had come to punish him for his actions, but to the former Dark Lord's surprise this wasn't the case as the creator spoke to him.

"_Mairon your crimes are many and great…you foolishly followed Melkor. Explain your actions." _

"_Forgive me, but I wanted order and efficiency for Arda and I believed following Melkor would achieve that goal."_

"_So following one who craved destruction and walked a chaotic path was what you thought was the best path to bring about a world of order and industry?" Eru questioned as the all-mighty creator had pointed out an obvious paradox in Sauron's reasons and original motives for siding with Melkor or rather Morgoth he had later became the First Dark Lord with Sauron becoming the second. "It seems befitting of your original master Aule you lacked patience. You knew the music and understood my designs better than even Melkor did."_

"_I just…" Sauron began trying to plead his case to the creator, but he couldn't speak any more words. _

"_But unlike Melkor's followers you sought forgiveness out of fear when he was defeated."_

"_I did...I had no wish to suffer my master's fate and…" _

"_Yet you questioned your actions up to that point, but you couldn't bare the humiliation and the fear of what would have happened. You feared execution for your crimes." _

_Sauron was hesitant, but the creator knew the truth. _

"_I did…" _

"_Fear kept you from returning to face judgment, but had you been a braver being things in the second and third age could have been quite different. But thou fell into the folly of imitating your fallen master becoming a Dark Lord yourself." _

"_I did…I believed the Valar had abandoned Arda allowing it to fall into disorder and decay." _

"_Yet it was your own power lust that drove your actions…in the end you became as destructive as your master your original desire a perversion of what it was." _

_Sauron had no comeback, but he feared now he would meet his end. _

"_Mairon I have thought hard and I have decided to send thou back to Arda." _

_For once Sauron was surprised by this turn of events. _

"_As I have sent Olorin back to complete his task as a more powerful and imposing being I shall now send you back as well, but more powerful than I had made Olorin." _

"_But why…I don't understand?" _

"_I have great need of you Mairon; thou have a chance to redeem thy self. The Valar are not permitted to interfere in the affairs of Arda, but you on the other hand…should you be reborn." _

_Sauron listened intensively to the creator not daring to speak a single word. _

"_The world has become filled with evil, death and sorrow are abound these days as the adopted children the dwarves are almost gone while the hobbits the gentle creatures adored by Olorin are in danger of being cruelly wiped out by those claiming to be followers of my will. But worse a group of men seek to slay me." _

_Once again in a short time Sauron was now astonished beyond words and comprehension. The idea itself didn't even seem possible, to kill the creator, how could men achieve such a thing. _

"_I cannot prevent it, but soon I shall sleep…yet I can at least send you back into the world Mairon. Accept and crush the men plotting to murder me and undo everything that has been made and thou shall be granted forgiveness and pardon for all crimes and evil acts. You know what would have awaited you because of what you have done, but I offer thou this one chance to escape it." _

_Sauron had experienced eons as a disembodied spirit of mere malice wandering the wilderness and seeing in his mind what further fate awaited him was much worse than his current crippled state. The offer to escape that fate was far too tempting not to pass up. _

"_I shall serve you in your task of great need." _

"_Very well Mairon, but for you a special rebirth is needed. You shall be reborn within a young child whom I have chosen specifically for your task in mind. You will become one in every sense of the word, he shall be you and you shall be him, a single being born of your merger. I shall also grant you all of your original strength, power and knowledge back along with the One Ring. It shall find its way to you at the appropriate time, but upon its return to you the eight of the nine shall return to you once more. Your champion however must be revived by means of a sacrifice. Once you awaken you shall possess greater power than ever before and then your mission to destroy those who seek to slay me. Do this and I will pardon you, but a test of your sincerity for forgiveness will be required before the end."_

"_A test?" _

"_You shall realize it when the time comes, but do you accept the terms?"_

"_I shall I will carry out your will." _

"_Then our accord is made…you and your servants the Nazgul shall be made invulnerable to the scared sacraments and weapons of those who foolishly claim to be followers of my will. None of their weapons or warriors can hinder you. Go forth destroyer and let them remember the Dark Lord Sauron, do as thou will and punish those who seek my death."_

That was the last thing Mairon remembered before being reborn as Lelouch now merged into a single entity composed of both the boy that was Lelouch vi Britannia and the Dark Lord Sauron…together they are the new Dark Lord. Lelouch couldn't help, but simply smile at the irony…lately the Dark Lord has been enjoying a lot of it.

'_I am on a mission from god.'_

"Lelouch-kun…" Kotonoha spoke as she had arrived at Minas Morgul a short time ago.

The young man smiled at the woman's presence as the two were meeting in Lelouch's private chambers, but without a moment's hesitation the young man approached the beautiful woman taking her into his arms as the two shared a passionate kiss. The kiss lasted for a good minute or two as Kotonoha was left flushed from the embrace and the kiss.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too." Kotonoha said longingly as they kissed again.

* * *

><p>Later that afternoon at the Shinjuku Ghetto the Witch King had arrived with his four Nazgul companions in tow after receiving new garments and armor to replace what had either been damaged or loss thanks to Lelouch, but it helped there were <em>spares<em> at the sanctuary below the Ashford Academy. Waiting for them was Lucien who acted as leader of their hideout in the old underground train station and abandoned tunnels that existed below the subway lines.

"Welcome my lord I trust your trip was uneventful?"

"It could have been better, but I trust the supplies we have gathered have helped?"

"They have and the people have adjusted much better now, but room is a bit of a problem."

"We'll be spreading out the refuges to other locations soon, but for now we'll tend to them here."

The Witch King replied as he and Lucien continued walking down one of dark tunnels heading into what had once been a train storage area, but it was now being used to store all of the Knightmare Frames their resistance movement had stolen. Despite lacking proper room for all of the refuges and men they had things were going quite well at Shinjuku for them.

* * *

><p>Or so they thought…at the Viceroy Palace, General Bartley hurried into the office of the Viceroy of Area 11 Clovis La Britannia where the young prince was feeling rather stressed out at the moment. What had him stressed out the most was the latest in baffling incidents which saw the disappearance of the immortal girl that had been captured for his Code R project.<p>

But General Bartley Asprius had some good news for the Viceroy in that matter.

An anonymous tip received from the general that had been over the base responsible for protecting the capsule containing the girl had received information stating that the terrorists responsible for her thief at had been sighted hiding within the Shinjuku Ghetto.

"Viceroy Clovis I have some good news…news so good I came to deliver it myself."

"What is it Bartley and it better be about the girl's whereabouts."

"In fact your highness it is…sources say the ones responsible for pulling off the theft say that she is in the Shinjuku Ghetto. Our intelligence agents have verified terrorist activity in that area."

"Are you sure she is there?"

"Our sources say she is my lord."

"Very well deploy the royal guard and I want the military to surround the ghetto."

"Yes my lord!"

"Dead or alive I am reclaiming that woman and we'll need to destroy all evidence. If word gets out about her I'll be disinherited."

"I understand I'll begin making preparations at once."

The war was about to escalate to a whole new level.

* * *

><p>AN: well there you have it Roa is down for good most likely and now everything is progressing to where Fuyuki City will become the main battleground in every sense of the word. Also as a shocking twist it was Eru the creator who brought Sauron back, picking Lelouch specifically for his destined desire to destroy Britannia whose Emperor is plotting to kill god. But the test Lelouch must face…what could it be and could there be more to Lelouch being chosen as Sauron's reincarnation.

Either way with the general who is involved with Kallen's step mother having told Clovis through Bartley about terrorists in Shinjuku having C.C, but really could it be just an attempt to get Kallen killed and her friends used as a scapegoat to take the fall for what had happened. Just imagine when they find out they chose to attack the wrong ghetto.

Thank you all for reading and reviews in advance I'll see you in the next chapter.


	10. Chapter 10 Battle at Shinjuku Ghetto

A/N: Well here is chapter 10 and a lot will go down, people will die a lot of people on the Britannian side mostly. But either way the Witch King along with his followers aren't going to simply hide and do nothing as they will engage the Britannian forces head on engaging in their first major battle and then we shall see a shocking counterattack.

* * *

><p>Chapter 10<p>

Battle at Shinjuku Ghetto

It was a little after five pm the following afternoon when a large contingent of Britannian soldiers surrounded the Shinjuku Ghetto much to the surprise and dismay to many of the residents living there. A G-1 mobile command base carrying Prince Clovis and his closest officers and advisers were personally overseeing what would become the liquidation of the Shinjuku Ghetto. In another corner of the ghetto hiding in an abandoned warehouse a smaller resistance group was panicking, although they were wondering if this large army had been coming for them.

"What the hell, what is the military doing here?" Shinichiro Tamaki shouted as the members of their small resistance group had quickly gathered.

"Calm down!" The group's leader said trying to ease the gathered members of their resistance movement. "Let's not overreact here."

"Who are you bullshitting Ohgi?"

"Why would so many Britannian soldiers suddenly come to this ghetto for?"

Inoue asked while Kallen hung back in a corner listening in fearing that this might have something to do with her, but she doubted it. Lancer remained in spirit form and was close while concerned about the dangerous situation they were in right now.

* * *

><p>But below the ghetto in the old tunnels that ran below the subway the Witch King had been alerted to what was happening and he was somewhat concerned, but the voice of his master filled his thoughts giving him instructions. Unlike previous times his master wasn't distressed in the least…in fact he welcomed this opportunity to unleash their growing might.<p>

'_As you command master, but shall we take the Viceroy captive?'_

Lelouch thought about it carefully for a moment before giving his response.

'_**No…give the Britannians no quarter unless you see fit to take any prisoners of possible value. I have no need for the Viceroy like Clovis as a prisoner.'**_

'_Understood…I'll carry out your will.'_

'_**Show to the Britannians the true meaning of power, the true meaning of fear...show them the reason of your name, oh Witch-King of Angmar, lord of the Nazgul!'**_

'_Yes master…'_

The Witch King knew sundown was coming and once nightfall came his powers would be at his strongest, but with all of their might gathered here the Witch King had more than enough military might to challenge Britannian Military. At Minas Morgul, Lelouch laid there on his bed looking up at the ceiling lost in thought for a moment when a certain young woman asked the Dark Lord a question.

"Is everything alright?"

Lelouch turned his head to see Kotonoha looking at him with gentle concern in her eyes as she lay upon his right shoulder with her head having been snuggled against his neck. The two had spent their day together which ultimately accumulated into the two joining each other in bed for an afternoon of lovemaking with one another in private as the two young lovers had been apart for too long for their tastes.

The Dark Lord stoked bare back of his lover and future queen gently before replying.

"Everything is fine…just some news came from the Witch King."

Kotonoha was more at ease as she laid her head down resting her worn down form with her lover while Lelouch looked upon the woman for a moment while he was thinking about how far their relationship had progress. They began as friends and within the two years they had met they became lovers after to the Dark Lord's surprise Kotonoha not only was the one who opened her bed to him, but she had subtly seduced him.

He did question if starting a relationship so early was a good idea, but after Kotonoha touched him and undressed him a bit while Lelouch was frozen in place at her actions yet at the same time the Dark Lord found himself enjoying Kotonoha's seduction. Lelouch knew from his past life as Sauron that while the Dark Lord wasn't a sex addict or anything of the short, but yet there were times when such relationships were necessary mostly for political gains while early on in his life he had bedded a woman out of curiosity for the experience.

But by Sauron's own admittance he enjoyed propositioning and charming women almost as much as bedding them. Never once did he force himself on a woman, but he found the _challenge _of seducing a woman oddly more appealing. Naturally of course he went for beautiful women especially elf women who were unsurprisingly the most challenging to charm and seduce into sleeping with him.

Lelouch as the reincarnated Dark Lord Sauron was technically a virgin before his first time with Kotonoha, but the young man unknowingly and unintentionally at the same time recalled those times of the nights he spent with a woman. The experience he recalled from those times he put to use after Kotonoha had his way with him during their first night. Even then the Dark Lord enjoyed Kotonoha's actions that night finding himself seduced by a woman an interesting but welcomed change than the other way around.

Since their first time a few months ago Kotonoha and Lelouch have kept their lover status hidden from everyone mostly because he didn't think everyone needed to know he and Kotonoha had begun sleeping together when they could get the chance. But he planned to reveal it eventually when the time comes for him to make Kotonoha his queen, but that day would come when Nunnally discovers the truth of her brother so she could attend the wedding.

Lelouch knew Nunnally wouldn't let him live it down if she wasn't invited to his own wedding, however the Dark Lord would then restore Nunnally's sight and mobility since hiding his powers from her would be impossible then and others might know of his true identity by then as well. Lelouch would like to prevent that if he could and just give Nunnally her sight and ability to walk back, but the Dark Lord needed to plan for any possible complications.

Besides his crippled sister suddenly regaining her sight and ability to walk would have been suspicious and draw some unwanted attention.

Holding Kotonoha closer to him the Dark Lord Lelouch laid their quietly content to have the woman he loved dearly in his arms knowing that the Witch King would execute his will to the letter.

* * *

><p>Back at Shinjuku Ghetto the situation was quickly deteriorating as following the surrounding of the ghetto by the military they began a systematic liquidation of its residence in an organized slaughter of everyone living within the ghetto intending to leave no one alive. Kaname Ohgi and the resistance group he led began fighting back trying to help the defenseless civilians fend off the Britannian soldiers murdering all Japanese in their path.<p>

Kallen mounted the only Knightmare Frame the group had which was an old RPI-11 Glasgow, which had been painted with a red color scheme. She surprised attacked a pair of Sutherland machines gunning down fleeing civilians. The angered redhead quickly disabled one with use of slash harkens taking off the head and right arm before viciously attacking its partner to destroy the enemy machine.

"You damn Britannian bastards!"

"Kallen!"

"Don't worry about me Ohgi just work on getting these people out of here." Kallen shouted, but three more enemy Sutherlands appeared. Aiming their rifles they opened fire on the red machine forcing Kallen to retreat, but the enemy machines were hot on her tail. After passing through pair of buildings a fourth Sutherland unit leapt down from the rooftop impaling one of the pursuing enemy machines through the top with Knightmare-size halberd.

The two remaining enemy Sutherlands were caught completely off guard giving the black Sutherland a chance to deploy its arm blades that had replaced the Stun Tonfas using them to swiftly decapitate the enemy machines. Kallen was stunned at the black machine's sudden appearance as it looked like a Sutherland, but yet there was an eerie kind of dark aura surrounding the machine.

Its limbs seemed a little longer and streamlined and besides the stun tonfas being replaced with retractable blades the Sutherland had a cape attached to it mirroring the new RPI-209 Gloucester, but with the way the machine had been moving it wasn't moving like a machine at all but more like a terrible demon from hell.

"You in the red Sutherland do you read me?"

"Huh…who me?" Kallen responded caught off guard.

"Yes…who is your leader? I wish to speak with him especially if he and the others in this ghetto wish to survive."

The Witch King replied from the inside of the Sutherland he was using which had been customized to fit his own tastes, but thanks to the Knight of Honor power the Lord of the Nazgul possessed the Sutherland was transformed into a repulsive alien like living metal creature completely under the Witch King's control allowing him to even use the cameras to fully perceive the world around him overcoming his handicap of his reduced senses during the daytime.

This was especially helpful since this allowed the Witch King to mentally interact with the cockpit monitors keeping the Lord of the Nazgul aware of the process of the battle thanks to real time strategic information being transmitted to his machine from a stolen Sutherland that Lucien Lachance had commandeered as the battle began using the display map of all of the active enemy forces transmitting IFF signals to monitor them.

Furthermore thanks to the reproduced Knight of Honor power the Sutherland the Witch King commanded moved to the power of his will and thought completely bypassing the need to handle the controls allowing for it to responds and move a lot faster which only furthered the machine's vastly enhanced capabilities since its mobility and agility were augmented beyond their normal capabilities along with everything else.

"I will help you all survive this battle and win, but you must do exactly as I say."

A short time later as the liquidation of Shinjuku Ghetto went on; Viceroy Clovis sat quietly on his throne as he listened to the reports of their plan. Although much to his displeasure the capsule containing the woman had yet to be found, despite having the royal guard searching the ghetto for her Clovis wanted C.C recovered dead or alive.

"Bartley, any news of the girl yet?"

"Nothing yet your highness, but we'll find her."

"Good I can't risk anyone finding out about her, but if the homeland asks tell them we're carrying out a plan for urban development."

"Yes your highness."

Meanwhile a group of captured Sutherlands, most captured with Lucien's help and the rest were captured by the students of the famed assassin a small group of hobbits he taught in the arts of murder and assassination. It went without saying they preformed above and beyond what the assassin had hoped for and he was pleased with their development especially in their skills. Tamaki and his fellow resistance members were perplexed by the hobbits who looked almost childlike in appearance, but the black leather uniforms with equipment belts, gun holster and places to conceal multiple knives combined with the black cloak and hood they were gave them the appearance of assassins you would see in a fantasy world, but the leather armor they wore possessed special enchantments that gave them increased sneaking and hiding prowess making them extremely lethal in combination with the assassin and infiltration skills Lucien had taught them.

"So how are those midgets?"

"They are hobbits and if you wish to keep all of your limbs intact then I strongly suggest you do nothing to offend them." The Witch King cautioned while Ohgi was actually impressed the _little people _before them had managed to capture so many enemy machines for them.

"But these things had their IFF removed, so what good will it do us?" Sugiyama asked.

"The enemy believes they have total advantage in this war, so we'll likely have the drop on them." Ohgi replied seeing the possibility.

"If you are all ready let us begin."

The Witch King ordered as he laid out his plan for defeating the Britannians. As they planned and positioned themselves in key points the rest of the Witch King's forces were moving through the subway tunnels making their way towards the edges of the ghetto where the they would launch an all out attack on the Britannians encirclement from behind while the Nazgul with a few others would attack the G-1 when the time is right.

As they attacked the Knightmare Frames some of the Witch King's ground forces went to work defending the fleeing civilians leading them underground into the subway to avoid further attacks, but when a large group of Britannian foot soldiers followed a large group of them into a warehouse a dwarf wearing black ebony armor lined with silver with a modified M136 Minigun is a 7.62 mm, multi-barrel machine gun belt fed ammo from a large backpack on the dwarf's back.

Upon opening the door twenty Britannian foot soldiers tried to pile in, but upon seeing them the dwarf with a smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye opened fire unleashing a flesh shredding torrent of two thousand bullets. Limbs went fly off as the Minigun tore apart the enemy soldiers killing them along with their buddies. A pair of escorting Knightmare Frames were about to destroy the warehouse, but thanks to be alerted by a radio call the dwarf turned and fired in the direction the Knightmare Frame was in making Swiss cheese out of its torso along with the pilot.

The second Knightmare Frame was about to move in and gun the dwarf down, but a Sutherland actually being used by the Witch King's forces emerged and blasted the enemy Sutherland apart. The forces of the Witch King were moving and now engaging the Britannians in an unforeseen counterattack that no one could have expected as the number of losses Britannia began to endure started to rise steadily.

From his seat on the G-1 Clovis was now aware of the sudden fierce counterattack that had seemingly come out of nowhere. His forces were suddenly being routed by the quick and speedy issued tactics of the Witch King thanks to the IFF signals from their own Knightmare Frames revealing their positions and movements to him.

With every second the situation quickly got worse for Clovis.

Furthermore as the Witch King's men began leading the counterattack against the Viceroy and his forces another unexpected factor was at work dispatching of Britannian soldiers using their souls he consumed to replenish his own strength since Kallen wasn't a Magus who could provide prana for him. Lancer had quickly dispatched of a large group of Britannian foot soldiers as they had been tailing a fleeing group of civilians.

If anything this battle gave the servant a perfect opportunity to collect and stockpile on prana, but Lancer knew better than anyone he needed to avoid being seen so he kept to killing soldiers who were alone or isolated from their comrades.

"If I can kill another group about this size then I'll have enough prana to hold me out for a good long time at least." Lancer commented to himself with a confident smirk before heading out to look for another group of unfortunate victims.

* * *

><p>Back on the front lines the Witch King had finished slaughtering another group of enemy Knightmare Frames, but four more Sutherlands this time piloted by members of the Purist Faction arrived on the scene. The sight of over a dozen destroyed Britannian Sutherlands was a lot to take in more so was the fact that a single machine piloted by <em>rebel <em>made it hard to believe.

"So this is our little troublemaker…he must be quite skilled to do all of this. At last a worthy challenge for us." Jeremiah Gottwald declared, but he had no idea just to what he was facing. His subordinate and his trusted right hand woman Villetta Nu questioned if confronting the black Sutherland was a good idea as the years of combat experience she had been screaming at her for a tactical retreat.

Although on the offhand Villetta knew they couldn't run, but something about this foe had her on edge.

"I'll take him!" Kewell Soresi declared charging him with his Sutherland's lance ready heading straight at the Witch King.

"Wait Lord Kewell there is something wrong here?" Villetta as all of her seasoned senses and instincts as a pilot and soldier telling her that something were very wrong here.

Jeremiah was going to say something, but his attention was drawn to Kewell as he engaged the Lord of the Nazgul in single combat. Yet to their horror the fight lasted barely a minute as the Witch King in his magically mutated Sutherland easily parried all of Kewell's attempts at impaling the Witch King before the Purist Member was disarmed quickly followed up by getting impaled through the cockpit by the Witch King's halberd.

"LORD KEWELL!"

Villetta screamed as Kewell's Sutherland exploded leaving an imitating black Sutherland before them ready to add another kill to today's list of casualties for the Britannians. Jeremiah was left speechless after seeing one of his own subordinates get slaughtered right in front of him.

"We'll avenge him…come on Villetta we'll both take him!"

Villetta almost wanted to run away instead as every nerve in her body was trying to compel her to run away as she could feel every hair on her neck stand up. Yet she couldn't allow her superior to face some as dangerous as the Witch King so using will power she forced her body to compile to her demands as her Knightmare Frame charged forward attacking the Witch King in unison with her superior.

The Witch King didn't feel the least bit threatened as the black Sutherland he commanded twirled the halberd in its hands before using it to parry off attacks from the two Britannian soldiers as a fierce duel broke out with the Lord of the Nazgul fending off attacks from two foes. Using movements and precision swings that were beyond the capabilities of the Sutherland the Nazgul Lord was using he held off both Jeremiah and Villetta with ease.

But when Villetta attempted to attack from behind the black Sutherland leapt up into the air somersaulting over the female pilot as she nearly impaled her own superior with her lance, but the feat their foe's machine had just preformed was without doubt something that shouldn't have been done in a Sutherland. They knew the capabilities of the machines they were in and some of the movements they saw earlier were just from some tricked out hardware upgrades or something of the short, but to perform a somersaulting over another Sutherland was outright impossible.

"What the hell are we fighting against?" Jeremiah shouted as he slammed his fist against the wall of his cockpit, but the black Sutherland charged them. Although Jeremiah evaded the initial swing, but the Witch King grabbed the end of his halberd flicking a switch on the weapon's handle to remove a concealed sword. "OH SHIT!"

Jeremiah didn't have enough time to get away let alone evade the attack completely as the front of his cockpit was slashed damaging a number of critical systems triggering his cockpit ejection block, which saved the soldier's life before his machine exploded. But now this left Villetta facing the Witch King alone as the black Sutherland turned its attention to her now wielding both its sword and halberd with both hands revealing a dexterous handling of the two weapons that a normal Sutherland shouldn't have been capable of.

"Just what in god's name are we facing?"

Villetta said to herself as she had a very strong feeling that she wasn't going to walk away from this battle alive. It was to the point that not even the usually fearless Britannian soldier couldn't bring herself to even recklessly charge the black Sutherland before her as it merely stood there ready for her. The sun was slowly disappearing below the horizon.

Once nighttime was upon them the Witch King and his fellow Nazgul would be at their mightiest.

Growing impatient the Witch King lunged at the Sutherland as Villetta panicked as she quickly ejected from her machine, which actually saved her life since the Lord of the Nazgul knocked her weapon from her hands with his halberd before using his sword to stab the chest of her machine where her cockpit was. The Witch King considered for a moment dealing with the escaped pilots, but he had more important matters that needed his attention as well as drawing more of the Viceroy's forces out to break their formation and weaken the guard around Clovis's G-1.

"Pilot of the red Glasgow, are all preparations complete?" The Witch King asked on an open line.

"Uh yes sir…" Kallen replied as she and her resistance group had been busy setting a trap for the Britannians.

* * *

><p>Back on the G-1 Clovis was understandably livid that everything just kept getting worse for him as they already lost more than over half of the Knightmare Frames they sent in while they lost contact with over more than two hundred foot soldiers. If things kept progressing as they were they would exhaust their strength and soon they wouldn't have enough men to deal with the terrorist threat.<p>

"Send more troops to deal with the terrorist scum?"

"But my lord we can't risk anymore troops from the base especially…."

"I KNOW THAT, which is why we'll have the men protecting me advance forward to deal with the terrorists and then have these two groups advance in. Use some of the spare troops protecting me here to fill in the gaps in our formation." Clovis ordered, but it would be a huge military blunder as this would leave the formation encirclement severely weakened with the forces protecting the G-1 reduced now to a bare minimum.

It was one the Witch King was hoping for…in fact monitoring Clovis's newly given orders using the IFF his forces had was without doubt much more than he could have hoped for.

"That is a much more foolish and extremely stupid move than even I had expected, but it means we win now."

The Witch King replied to himself as he headed underground to link up with the main force about to hit the G-1 and the rest of the enemy forces maintaining the encirclement. Meanwhile those not involved with the surprise attack were now trying to draw all of the enemy soldiers to a single spot. Clovis in his foolishness and eagerness to put down the terrorist threat failed to realize the danger as all of his soldiers after a strange ceasing of fire from the Witch King's men and other resistance members helping them.

When they reached the spot their foolish leader insisted upon concentrating all of their forces on they found nothing there, but that was when it happened. The ground under them suddenly collapsed as Clovis was horrified by the sudden appearance of the word **LOST **on the screen as within a minute alone over fifty Sutherlands were lost as soon as the ground under them collapsed.

That wasn't even counting the armored vehicles and ground troops they had just lost, but their numbers kept growing for over a full minute as did the number of Knightmare Frames they just lost in that huge blunder.

'_Who the hell am I dealing with? Could he be better than Tohdoh?' _

As if an answer to his question the sun had completely vanished below the horizon as night had fallen and the Nazgul were now at full strength. With a scream the Witch King emerged from a tunnel near the encirclement line before viciously attacking the surprised troops there head on cleaving one Sutherland in two, but not long after that the majority of his men and Ohgi's resistance group that had been fighting in the ghetto moved to back up the Witch King as they launched an all out assault on the formation line.

Chaos erupted now as the soldiers being called to stop them by a panicking Clovis as the encirclement formation had been broke as Sutherlands and armored vehicles were now desperately racing to reach their comrades and the G-1, but passing through the ghetto was another huge mistake as the Witch King had left men behind along the most likely to use routes the men would take where they were ambushed by a combination of mines planted on the roads and surprise attacks from hidden troops armed with heavy weapons.

And the worse had now happened as behind the G-1 and the bulk of the formation line holding troops the Witch King and others were engaged against the rest of the Witch King's forces emerged from underground and viciously attacked the exposed backs of their foes catching a lot of them off guard. Clovis was hopelessly surrounded as the remaining troops left to protect him were quickly overwhelmed.

"Your majesty we must flee before they storm the G-1!" Bartley cried knowing if they stayed now they were likely to get killed. Clovis was for a moment unresponsive as he couldn't comprehend how things had gone to horribly wrong for him so quickly. But little did Bartley realize it was too late to flee as pounding outside the doors leading to the bridge could be heard as the advance team lead by Lucien aided by the other Ringwraiths had already taken the G-1 in the confusion of their pincher attack.

Suddenly the lights went out at the same time the doors opened. Fearing for his own safety Clovis took cover in a corner next to his throne as the screams of his advisors and officers being killed by the Ringwraiths filled his ears. It didn't last more than a minute as the lights came back on moments later with Lucien standing over the trembling Viceroy.

"Its…it's you."

"Ah Viceroy I am pleased you remember me, because I of course remember you."

"Wait Lucien I'll double what I was paying you it was nothing personal." A shivering and terrified Clovis said trying to save his own life. The Britannian who had sold Lucien out after killing a target for a client was in fact Viceroy Clovis, but to keep anyone from guessing he was behind the assassination he tried to have Lucien killed.

"This is nothing personal as well, but I won't deny the joy I'll feel."

Lucien said partly lying about it not being personal, but the truth was that the Dark Lord had ordered the Viceroy to be killed if captured since Clovis had no value to the Empire other than just being the third prince of the Empire. It didn't help his case that rumors of someone replacing Clovis were beginning to circle about.

Drawing out a black polished dagger similar to a Morgul Blade, but it was a weapon specially crafted by the Dark Lord dubbed the Blade of Woe, the ideal assassin's weapon that drains some life from the victim as they die and rejuvenates the wielder.

"Good bye…Viceroy!"

Clovis with a look of terror in his eyes tried to beg in vain, but Lucien would hear no more as he with much satisfaction ran the blade into the Viceroy's stomach before ripping the blade upwards to his collarbone cutting him open like a turkey before using a swift slash to behead him. A second later the crumbling body of Clovis la Britannia fell to the ground with his head following a second later while his insides and blood spilt onto the floor.

Grabbing the Viceroy's head the black robbed assassin made his way to the roof where he displayed Clovis's head before the gathered mob of survivors and resistance members gathered around the G-1.

"Victory!"

The cheering was deafening as the Witch King approached the G-1, but for the Dark Lord of the Nazgul the battle wasn't quite over yet.

The Witch King approached one Fagben Deepbronze dressed in ebony armor and wielding a Minigun having used it to great effect during the battle, but before this evening was done more Britannian soldiers will be slain.

"Gather the others Fagben…we aren't done yet."

"My lord?"

"We're going to counterattack!"

* * *

><p>Almost two hours later at Military Headquarters at the Viceroy's Palace the soldiers left behind in Clovis's zealous attempt to liquidate the Shinjuku Ghetto, although they were of course unaware of his real intentions, were pleased to see the G-1 and a number of Knightmare Frames and armored vehicles entering the base.<p>

They had received word via a text-only message that the unexpected resistance force they encountered at Shinjuku Ghetto had been put down, but in their foolishness and overconfidence in Britannia's perceived superiority they failed to realize danger entering their base. Worse yet was the fact that the men protecting the base right now were below the bare minimum required for proper security and protection since Clovis took just about everyone to Shinjuku.

However as this was happening a lone soldier was conducting his rounds inside a reserve Knightmare Frame hanger which was being used by the Advance Special Envoy Engineering Corps to store its prized creation, the world's first seventh generation Knightmare Frame the Z-01 Lancelot. Working late into the evening was a pair of scientist who was in charge of the ASEEC; although on paper one Lloyd Asplund was in change.

"You realize Lloyd we still need a pilot."

"Yes I know, but that pompous fool Bartley wouldn't allow us to tag along. I could have gotten us a pilot if he did." Lloyd said replying to a comment made by his co-worker and effectively his right hand woman Cecile Croomy.

The lone soldier assigned to watching the hanger's interior and its contents was one Private Suzaku Kururugi who had lost the draw for guard duty in the hanger which was both the most boring of tasks and hanging near Lloyd Asplund was considered by some of the soldiers the worst experience possible given how odd and usual he was.

Suzaku kept quiet as he fulfilled his duties and despite what he heard this job wasn't too bad compared to other jobs he had been assigned. It was quiet and uneventful, but it was a nice change of pace.

Yet little did Suzaku realize that was suddenly going to change as on the bridge of the G-1 the Witch King sat in the throne once occupied by the Viceroy as he gave the order.

"Now!"

At that moment the Sutherlands that had followed the G-1 into the base suddenly broke away and began using their weapons including heavy bazookas to quickly destroy most of the Knightmare Frame hangers and other structures throwing the entire base into disarray. Resistance fighters and new recruits from the vengeful and angry citizens of the Shinjuku Ghetto poured out from the G-1 and transport trucks with guns blazing while the more battle hardened members using anti-tank rockets were destroying everything else.

Inside the hanger containing Lancelot which thankfully was on the far side of the base and for the moment safety out of danger, but the explosion and the alarms going off caused Cecile to jump out of her chair in alarm.

"What is going on out there?"

"I think someone is attacking the base." Lloyd replied nonchalantly.

"But how, we're in the base at the center of government for Area 11." Cecile as the very idea of someone attacking the base they were in seemed impossible.

Suzaku on the other hand was trying to contact his superior to find out what was going on, but when all he received was static. Taking a risk the private opened up the armored door leading outside and what he saw shocked him as virtually the entire base was in flames as armored vehicles were destroyed. He saw the G-1 usually used by the Viceroy, but it was obvious within moments that whatever Clovis had been doing at the Shinjuku Ghetto had gone very badly and now a terrorist group had taken it and smuggled a large force into the base catching it completely off guard with a surprise attack.

Suzaku realized by some of the clothes and attire the attackers wore so it was easy to figure a terrorist group was behind this attack, but at this point he shouldn't even consider them a terrorist group but rather an army invading the base. Suzaku watched as the Witch King's forces brutally ravaged the base like an army of extremely pissed-off repressed middle-class soccer moms assaulting a ninety percent-off clearance rack at Macy's.

In the middle of the horrific burning inferno Suzaku saw someone in black with a crown on his head leading the attack as a dozen Britannian foot soldiers were attacking the armored warrior with assault rifles, but to the young man's amazement the Witch King was effortlessly deflecting most of the bullets with quick and masterful swings of his blade.

Then quickly, one by one, the Witch King dealt with the Britannian soldiers foolish enough to attack him as he left a trail of severed limbs and heads as he moved with a speed that could only be described as superhuman. Suzaku felt a chill go down his spine as he felt the Witch King was looking at him after killing the last Britannian soldier attacking him.

Closing the door quickly and locking it tightly before he hurried around making sure all of the entrances were locked and sealed he hurried to Lloyd and Cecile.

"Excuse my lord, but the base is under heavy attack and I strongly suggest we should evacuate the base."

"Thank you for the news report Mr. Obvious…I am already cleaning out the computers of our research data and transferring it to a portable storage device."

"But how are we going to get out?" Cecile asked as Suzaku didn't even have an idea, but he was responsible for their lives and the machine they were developing so he would see them to safety one way or the other.

"Well we have the Lancelot, but we don't have a pilot…unless…" Lloyd began as he lazily turned his attention to Suzaku. "Private Kururugi was it? I understand you have some Knightmare Frame piloting experience."

"Well yes my lord, but only in simulators?"

"That's better than anything else right now, Private Kururugi I need you to do something for me and if you succeed I'll make it worth your wild." The scientist spoke as he held out the activation key for Lancelot.

"You can't be serious…I know the situation is bad but…"

"You have any better ideas?" Lloyd began as suddenly the sound of fists pounding on the metal door at the hanger's entrance could be heard. "And we better decide right now."

Outside trying to break down the door the Witch King and a group of his followers were planning on invading the hanger that according to rumors and some intelligence they had heard about contained a new prototype Knightmare Frame. Since they were razing the base to the ground and taking what hasn't been destroyed in the initial attack the Witch King planned on claiming Lancelot for his master, which was why the hanger it was contained in was spared the initial bombardment.

Just as they broke the armored door down and streamed inside the Witch King was standing outside as the hanger doors were blown apart as the Z-01 Lancelot sped out attacking the nearest enemy Knightmare Frame with its slash harkens. In the confusion of the Lancelot's sudden attack its transport trailer hurried out of the hanger making a mad dash for the rear gate intending to escape the base.

"Private Kururugi, remember your mission…cover our escape and then retreat. We cannot afford to allow the Lancelot to fall into enemy hands."

"I understand my lord." Suzaku replied as he sat inside the cockpit handling the Lancelot. He was amazed by the performance and the handling the machine had as he dealt with the enemies around him.

"What is this? The prototype wasn't supposed to have a pilot?" The Witch King said questioning his subordinate.

"No matter…order the men to surround him, I'll face it myself."

"Yes sir…"

Six Sutherlands piloted by the Witch King's men encircled the Lancelot trying to entrap it and keep it pinned with suppressing fire from their rifles, but to their shock the white Knightmare Frame evaded them all before quickly advancing upon them and beheading one of the Sutherlands with a swift attack using one of its forearm equipped slash harken as a blade weapon.

The other Sutherlands tried to stop it, but they were outmatched by the superior performance of the Lancelot and the surprisingly natural and reckless piloting skills of Suzaku.

As the Sutherlands fell one by one the black Sutherland used by the Witch King charged into the battle as it tried to launch a surprise attack on Suzaku.

"The rest of you back away and continue our assault I'll deal with this problem myself." The Witch King ordered as he and Suzaku were quickly engaged in mortal combat against one another.

"Yes sir!"

The remaining Sutherlands backed away as the Witch King alone faced the Lancelot alone in one on one combat, but Suzaku found a dangerous foe in the Lord of the Nazgul as the magically transformed Sutherland was able to match the Lancelot leaving the two foes locked in a stalemate as the two machines tried to overpower the other.

Suzaku's reflexes and senses including his instincts as a soldier were going into overdrive to keep up with the rapid attacks of the Witch King as the two exchanged blow after blow, but an alarm in the cockpit warned him that the arms were taking damage from deflecting the blows from his foe. It was inconvincible really as some would wonder how an old Sutherland could keep up with a brand new high performance machine like the Lancelot.

The black Sutherland dodged a roundhouse kick from the Lancelot before trying to counter with an uppercut, but the Lancelot narrowly dodged the punch. Suzaku tried a reserve kick, but his foe deflected the blow. The Witch King fought back with the slash harkens from his machine with one grazing the right shoulder of the white machine while the other thankfully barely missed the head.

The Witch King attacked following that miss with a right cross, but the Lancelot spun to the left to dodge before punching the Sutherland in the face landing his first blow on his foe. Although his punch came too high to behead it with the slash harken, but he landed a blow at least briefly stunning his foe. But that didn't stop the Lord of the Nazgul from landing a counterblow with a swift kick to the torso knocking the Lancelot back.

The black Sutherland was about to attack with increased ferocity as it drew its forearm mounted blades preparing to use them to completely destroy the machine, but a quick call from Lloyd gave Suzaku the means to survive the battle.

"Private Kururugi, quickly the password is Pudding for the password for the Slash Harken Boosters I told you about."

"Right!" Suzaku replied as he did as he was told as he punched in the password which was Lloyd's favorite food.

Suddenly all four of the Lancelot's slash harkens fired at the same time at the black Sutherland giving it little time to block them all let alone avoid them. The Witch King blocked two of the incoming slash harkens with the forearm mount blades; however the legs of the Witch King's machine weren't not as the Nazgul Lord couldn't block them. The black Sutherland's legs were damaged by Suzaku's attack almost cutting clean through the metal limbs.

"Private Kururugi get out of there, we're clear!"

"Roger that!"

Without another thought the Lancelot quickly fled the scene escaping the base, some of the Witch King's men had wanted to go after him…yet an order from the Lord of the Nazgul prevented them from doing so.

"Don't bother…let him go…we don't have the time to chase him down."

The Witch King abandoned his crippled Sutherland as he knew the longer they stayed the bigger the danger was to them that troops from the other garrison and military bases would eventually come to reinforce Britannia's presence while at the same time wipe them out. Right now it was best for the Witch King and his followers to retreat before that could happen.

The followers of the Nazgul Lord recovered what of their damaged machines that were serviceable before retreating from the area, but after they destroyed what machines they couldn't service let alone recover while the rest of the base was left a burning ruin as virtually every building and hanger were razed to the ground or were in flames. The hammer of the Dark Lord fell this night and so down came the Central Military Headquarters for Area 11 in ash and fire.

The Dark Lord had scored a great victory and one that would shake all of Area 11 and Britannia to its foundations as no one to date in Japan had pull off a bold and devastating attack. Let alone on the center of military power in all of Area 11, but worse yet Viceroy Clovis la Britannia had been slain by the followers of the Witch King.

This is a blow that the Britannian forces in Area 11 will not easily recover from.

* * *

><p>Back at Minas Morgul, Lelouch was aware of his victory the Witch King had won him. Although he would have liked to have claimed the new prototype Knightmare Frame, but its loss was minor compared to what was accomplished. The Viceroy was dead and the military headquarters for Area 11 was now a burning ruin with a number of Clovis's military leaders' and chiefs of staff dead thus leaving a very large power vacuum.<p>

If the greedy Britannian Nobles and Military Commanders act as he hopes they will then the damage the Witch King had inflicted today will be increased as the military commanders fighting to fill the power vacuum will weaken them and drive wedges between them. But this would also prompt other resistance groups in Area 11 to step up their activities to take advantage of the chaos that will spread like wildfire throughout Japan by morning.

It went without saying that the Dark Lord was in a very good mood.

"You are certainly happy this evening." Medea remarked.

Medea and Lelouch were seated at a round table in a small lounge in his private chapter that he used as a reading room when the Dark Lord wanted some privacy as it came complete with an open window for some air to enter and a small bookshelf near the wooden table the two were seated around while a gold candle stick stood at the heart of the table.

"Indeed thanks to Clovis, his chiefs of staff, General Bartley and most of the military leaders and department heads stationed at that base we wiped out all of Area 11 will descend into chaos as those below them will try to grab power for themselves. Those in charge of civil sectors and non-military related could attempt to fill the power vacuum themselves, but most of them brought their way to their positions with money and not actual talent nor ability so the situation will quickly get worse."

"You cut off most of the heads so they'll be going without any direction."

"Exactly and I know other resistance groups will seize the opportunity. Britannia's power in Area 11 has suffered a huge blow and its going to be hurting them for a good long time." Lelouch said replying to Medea's words, but two of the Ringwraiths entered the room where Medea and Lelouch were having their conversation with a young woman in their custody.

"Who is that?"

"My Lord we found her attempting to enter the castle through the main gate."

"How did she get through my barrier? I didn't sense an intruder."

"We are not sure my lord, but we will conduct a thorough search of the grounds within and around the castle."

"Very well…make it so, although I don't sense anyone else." Lelouch replied to the Ringwraith as felt no one else having entered the castle yet being better safe than sorry didn't hurt.

"What do you want done with the girl?"

"Put her in that chair and I'll see about having her confined to a guest room."

"Yes my lord." The Ringwraith replied as they placed the woman they had captured in an empty chair. As the Ringwraiths left to conduct their search of the castle and the surrounding grounds to make absolutely certain no one else had managed to breach the barrier despite Lelouch being certain that no one else did. But why didn't he sense the woman since the barrier would alert him to intruders and those not in his service.

"Who is she? Someone you know?"

"No, but remember that journey into that maid's mind?"

"Yes, wait then...is this the same woman then?"

"No her hair is much longer than hers, although the color is pretty close through."

Lelouch replied as he examined the woman in the chair before them unconscious wearing a long red skirt with a blue button up blouse with a white hair band in her crimson red hair, but it slowly faded back to brown.

"I believe this woman is Akiha…Akiha Tohno." Lelouch answered as he tried to figure how this woman not only breached the barrier around Minas Morgul, but find her way here.

* * *

><p>Later that evening at a residential area in the Tokyo Settlement the Lancelot was within its trailer while Suzaku was resting, but Cecile was reviewing the combat footage from the Lancelot. The battle proceeded well for it at first, but when the black Sutherland stepped in the battle became very difficult for the machine to fight against as it seemed to be able to match the Lancelot in performance and more.<p>

But yet for a machine like the Sutherland it should have been impossible. Even if they had the resources upgrading a machine like a Sutherland to have the same speed and performance as the Lancelot would have meant rebuilding the entire machine. However Cecile just couldn't imagine a resistance group having access to those kinds of resources.

What compounded the matter further was the fact that the Sutherland was performing well beyond what its frame was capable of. Even its movements were fast and more human like than machine like so in the end Cecile only found more questions that needed to be answered instead of the answers she sought.

"Find anything new?"

Cecile looked over her shoulder to see her superior standing behind her.

"No, but that Sutherland the Lancelot fought was somehow enhanced to perform beyond what it was capable of and more."

"It's something that should have been impossible without rebuilding the whole the entire unit."

"Yes, but its movements are more lifelike than a machine so…"

"Quite the confessing problem...I see."

"It is, but what about you?" Cecile inquired as Lloyd sighed.

"Well it's going to be a huge mess from this point on that's for sure, but on the plus side we have a pilot for Lancelot now. Furthermore I did get in touch with his highness, thank goodness for different time zones."

"What did he say?"

"He found it shocking, but the news coverage of what has happened at the base has confirmed what I told him. He's calling an emergency meeting to discuss the situation, but there is no word from Viceroy Clovis so I am going to go out on the limb and assume he's deader than a door nail."

"Lloyd!" Cecile snapped scolding her superior for his lack of respect for loyalty especially the recently departed member of royalty.

"That matter aside his majesty has instructed us to keep a low profile and see about relocating to the university as planned for now."

"But if the Viceroy is dead and the military headquarters was wiped out then…" Cecile began, but Lloyd interrupted and replied.

"Then things in Area 11 are going to go to hell in a hand basket real quick, because if I recall the general staff were also with Prince Clovis. That's not even considering the generals and military department heads killed at the base since it seems we're the only survivors so far."

Cecile didn't Lloyd to explain further since she understood what her superior meant as her superior had pointed out that with the Viceroy and others dead there would be a power vacuum and during that time of confusion and a likely power struggle that will erupt the resistance groups in Area 11 will not miss such a chance to deal out some damage against Britannia as a result.

Probably over the course of the next week they'll likely witness a domino effect rocking Area 11.

* * *

><p>The following morning at the Fuyuki City Rehabilitation Home Sakura and her servant Rider arrived by means of a cab, but at the moment a nurse was leading them to the room of a patient they wished to visit. Medusa was wearing casual clothes consisting of a black sweatshirt with a turtleneck, blue jeans and specially made glasses for her mystic eyes. Sakura was wearing her usual casual dress of a pink dress with a white blouse and a pink sleeve jacket.<p>

"She is right in here Miss Matou."

"Thank you…" Sakura replied to the nurse as she opened the door allowing the two to enter into the room beyond. Inside the small room where there was a bed and a dresser was a woman with long light blondish brown hair sat alone in a wheelchair.

"Good morning mother."

* * *

><p>AN: well there you have it folks, the Witch King has officially kicked start Lelouch's war with Britannia and he has kicked Britannia in the groin and then kicked them in the head. Clovis and some leaders are dead so it's going to be chaos with things in Area 11 going downhill, so one can hope that Cornelia will come to Area 11 REALLY QUICK.

Akiha has somehow found her way to Minas Morgul, but that will be revealed next chapter. And speaking Akiha the poll for the final two spots have been decided and out of 39 votes the winners are Sion and Akiha so the harem lineup is.

Kotonoha

Medea

Rider

C.C

Sakura

Sion

Akiha

However I find myself tempted to maybe raise the harem count to nine to match the number of Ringwraiths, but I'll wait and see what happens and who I decide to add. Given the Witch King's actions Cornelia isn't the only one coming to Area 11 now to restore order two members of the Knights of the Round are likely to be dispatched.

One will of course be the Vampire of Britannia and the other right now I am deciding between Nonette and Dorothea who will be likely to back Cornelia up.

Anyway read and review…thanks in advance.


	11. Chapter 11 Throwing down the gantlet

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and in this chapter we get a little more action and more chaos shall be unleashed, so please enjoy.

* * *

><p>Chapter 11<p>

Throwing down the gantlet

Shirou was at home sitting at the dining room table, but he wasn't alone as Gandalf sat with him drinking some tea and reading the morning paper to find out what was happening around Area 11. One article troubled them besides the articles about a sudden seemingly overnight rise in terrorist activities in different areas around the country was the destruction of the Central Military Base in the Tokyo Settlement which was effectively the seat of military power in Area 11, although neither one of them knew that Clovis the Viceroy had been killed as well however the media hadn't discovered that yet.

That happened the day before yesterday.

So far for them everything had been quiet, but the saying was that sometimes it was the calm before the storm. Seeing the headline in today's paper proved that fact as the young man wondered if the Dark Lord had a hand in that.

Although Shirou wasn't eager to march off to war or anything of the short, but even he had to admit this waiting was killing. There hasn't been any sign of Ilya and her servant as well…it was like the whole war had stalled. Gandalf having sat quietly slipping his tea while reading the paper noticed the restlessness in Shirou's posture.

"Difficult isn't it?"

"It's just been so quiet."

"It's the deep breath before the plunge."

"Not that I want to be in a battle. But waiting on the edge of one I can't escape is even worse." Shirou admitted to Gandalf.

"I have all, but too familiar with that feeling Shirou…more so than even I would like to be." Gandalf confined before adding. "If the Dark Lord was indeed behind this strike, which I am almost certain he was then we know that our enemy is ready, his full strength gathered. But we don't know what he has besides the Ringwraiths and the Servants he commands."

"But we can probably assume a lot of Japanese are likely with him then?" Shirou pointed out.

"Of course…with Japan being brutally controlled by Britannia and its people regarded as nothing more than slaves and worse it gives the Dark Lord ideal conditions to gather followers. Choosing one evil for another if you will."

"When you say it like that you make it sound that there is hardly any good left in this world?"

"Maybe not, but remember Shirou that there are other forces at work besides the forces of good and evil. Good and evil exists in the hearts of all men and it's a matter of the choices we make."

"The choices huh, but you never know if it's the right choice half the time."

"That's true it depends on what we know and what is happening."

"I understand Saber would rather hunt down the other Servants, but with this Dark Lord around I don't think running around looking for a fight is a good idea."

"And you have chosen to stay put and wait."

"I think it's our best opinion."

"Then that is a wise choice."

Suddenly the television set blanked out with snow for a moment before a man appeared on the screen, someone they didn't expect…the Witch King of Angmar. Gandalf and Shirou turned their attention to the screen wondering if the Lord of the Nazgul was using magic to contact them or something else was happening right now.

"I am…the Witch King!"

The Lord of the Nazgul declared before all of Japan and the world. The video feed Shirou and Gandalf were watching was being broadcasted on every channel as the Witch King stood before the camera with the flag of Japan behind him.

"People of Japan and all who are oppressed by the Empire of Britannia, long have I waited, all through the struggles against Britannia's injustices, I waited for them to come to their senses, but that hope was betrayed, by an act of barbarism that can only be called genocide. Viceroy Clovis la Britannia is the symbol of Britannia's hypocrisy, a mass murderer cloaked in the flag of a nation." The Witch King spoke as footage of Britannian soldiers mercilessly gunning down unarmed civilians, taken from cockpit recorders and footage held within the G-1.

"However we came to the aid of the people of Japan and stopped Clovis's murderous rampage and we gave him the divine punishment a mass murder deserves." The Witch King added as footage, but this time of survivors from the Shinjuku Ghetto speaking out against Britannia.

"The Witch King saved us, the Viceroy and his men were killing everyone around us…women and children."

"They killed my son!"

My husband was murdered right before my eyes and he wasn't even armed."

"We do not standby and allow such cruelty to be carried out by anyone, and so we made Clovis pay for his actions. I will not repudiate battle on a fair and level field, but neither will we tolerate a one-sided massacre of the weak by the strong. The only ones who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed! Wherever oppressors use their power to attack those who are powerless, we shall appear again, no matter how mighty, how formidable our foe may be. We are the defenders of those who are powerless and punishers of those who abuse their power regardless if they are Japanese or Britannian, so those without power seek us out and those with power fear us." The Witch King for the last part of the video drew his blade Arondight and held in out pointing to the camera. "We are the Black Knights and we declare war on all injustice."

The feed was terminated likely by the Britannian government, but it was too late as the damage had been done. Word was spreading now and the chaos already plaguing Area 11 now had spread especially now that it was public knowledge that Viceroy Clovis was dead. Now resistance activities were going to be stepping up especially now that people knew Area 11 was for the most part without a leading head.

Events were beginning to move quicker than anyone could foreseen, but at that moment at a familiar rehabilitation home in a tranquil corner of Fuyuki City, Rin had arrived to check on her mother Aoi Tohsaka who had been staying in the home for the past ten years where she suffered brain damage after someone had attacked her confining her to a wheelchair for the rest of her life.

But when she arrived at her mother's room she was disturbed by the fact that it was empty.

Rin had a bad feeling what her mother's disappearance meant, but she had to be sure so she hurried to the nearest nurse's station to inquire about her mother's whereabouts. Trying to remain calm the young magus inquired to the nurse sitting behind her station as to the location where her mother was.

"Excuse me where is my mother Aoi Tohsaka?"

"Let's see…" The nurse replied while typing on a computer keyboard looking in the patient records. "She was discharged yesterday and sent home."

'_What?'_

"How?"

"Family members picked her up."

Rin knew that someone had kidnapped her mother and she had a very good guess who. Rin left the home after finishing up with the nurse trying to get more details, but nothing helpful to reveal the identity of the kidnapper.

* * *

><p>Although she didn't know that Sakura who was responsible had used memory alteration spells to cover up her involvement in the matter, but speaking of whom back at Minas Morgul.<p>

"I never thought you were resort to kidnapping your own mother Sakura." Lelouch commented with a causal tone as he stood outside of the guest room where Aoi was currently being kept in. One of them could easily heal her, but Sakura wanted to wait on that.

"With Gandalf and Shirou-san involved I need something to lure Rin and her servant to a battleground of my own choosing."

"Don't misunderstand me…I am not questioning why you did it Sakura, but you have a point. Dealing with Rin and her servant are one thing, but fighting Gandalf alone would be possibly suicidal to put it lightly." Lelouch cautioned.

"I understand Lelouch-sama, but when will we deal with them?"

"For now I have no plans of engaging them head on only because I don't want to injure Nienna and trigger a war between us and the Valar."

Even with the deal between him and Eru the Dark Lord had a feeling that Valar were not going to believe his claims not without solid evidence to at least prove Britannia's intentions to kill Eru, which he was sure would likely prompt them into taking action against Britannia. As long as Nienna remained with them the Dark Lord was hesitant about attacking the Emiya Estate head on…save only that he didn't want to ignite war with the Valar.

"Besides if we have to we could direct Ilya and her servant to attack them for us if need be."

"I suppose, but what about Britannia?"

"The Witch King can handle it and Lucien and his men have arrived in Los Angeles."

"Then…you're serious?" Sakura hesitantly asked Lelouch.

"We need to disrupt Britannia in any way we can because I know more soldiers from the homeland will be dispatched. I am going to do what I can to hinder it. It worked for the Witch King when he brought down the Kingdoms of Arnor, so I can least weaken Britannia from within their own homeland."

"But to desecrate the tomb of the previous Britannian Emperors..." Sakura said, but Lelouch grinned.

"Oh what I have in mind goes beyond mere desecration."

Lelouch knew that while the desecration of the hallowed resting place of previous Britannian Emperors would break the hearts of Britannia's people, but the Dark Lord has a much darker purpose in mind. He intends to strike a blow straight into the heart of Britannia which will hinder them and even cause some disunity if he was lucky.

Not to mention it could provide a useful distraction to keep the Church and the Magus Association from noticing him until it was too late.

"However we need to keep pressing our advantage, we have dealt Britannia in Area 11 a blow, but we must inflict as much damage as possible before the Knights of the Round the Emperor will no doubt send and the new Viceroy likely bringing with them reinforcements for the men they have lost in Shinjuku and at the base we wiped out."

"I understand, but what about the girl?"

"Yes…she hasn't awoken yet, but I am curious still to how she found her way here."

"What about her family?"

"Through Kohaku I know the Church Hunter the Witch King had faced is still alive, but right now she is unconscious. Yet her survival intrigues me with me more curious about Shiki's Mystic Eyes of Death." Lelouch mused as he considered the eyes a mere assassination tool, but at the time he didn't consider the other possibilities one with such eyes could use them for such as stopping the curse embedded on the Morgul Blades.

"But she knows about the Nazgul, shouldn't something be done about her?"

"I'll make sure she is dealt with, but I don't want to hinder any possible chance of forging an alliance with the Tohno Family." Lelouch answered before Sakura shot back with another question.

"Do you think the girl will ally with us?"

"If not I want to at least ensure her family won't hinder me at least. From what I have gathered about the Tohno Family as a whole it would benefit me if they were with us, but they could be a thorn in my side if they were to go against me."

"I understand, but what about your sword?"

"My new sword I have devised a name for it…Alduin, Bane of Kings." Lelouch replied as he considered a name for the re-forged form of Anduril, but the blade was still incomplete. But with the war the Dark Lord he had to step up his plan to complete the blade and for that he had to bathe it in the blood of his enemies, stronger ones are ideal, but some small fry would make a good appetizer for the blade.

Killing a servant like Hercules would work well for it, but the blade would need to feed on more of the Dark Lord's enemies before it can be brought closer to completion to create what can be the ultimate sword. The Dark Lord had something in mind, but it was best to wait for Lucien and his men to be on their return trip to Japan.

Still there was the matter of Akiha and through Kohaku the Dark Lord knew her brother and Arcueid were looking for her still, but there was also the matter of inflicting more damage on Britannia in Area 11 before the new leaders arrive. The Witch King was already tending to that matter as he and his followers now dubbed the Black Knights had successfully launched a surprise on a Britannian Military base wiping out the garrison and taking what supplies and weapons were left over.

As Lelouch and Sakura were discussing their next moves Kotonoha and Medea along with Rider were having a girls' talk in one of the rooms in another corner of the castle. The girls were seated around a round table with Kotonoha relating her story to how she met the Dark Lord and the method of revenge he had used on those who had tormented her and others.

"So Lelouch killed some of them with a vehicle accident, got the other two in jail viciously raped by their fellow prisoners, then the man-whore ends up imprisoned in a snow globe to be tortured for all time and then lastly the manipulative bitch who caused it all is now living in constant fear of death."

"Yes that's right Caster-chan." Kotonoha replied.

"I have nothing but respect for you and more respect for Lelouch-sama." Medea replied approving of the revenge tactics used and their form of unholy retribution just tickled Medea's fancy. "I would have used robes that would have burned people alive, but I like what you two did."

"Thank you very much Caster-chan."

"So is there anything else between you and Lelouch?" Medusa inquired wondering if the two had a relationship going on.

"Huh…well…" Kotonoha began, but was unable to word out the rest of the sentence as she began blushing. Medusa and Medea began looking at the girl with suspicious looks before Medea spoke.

"You two are lovers aren't you?"

Kotonoha was stunned as she even gasped at the sudden revelation, but the smile on Medea's face grew while Rider was wondering if she should mention this to Sakura aware of the feelings she actually held for the Dark Lord.

* * *

><p>Back at the Emiya Estate Saber sat at the head of the table while everyone else was gathered as Nienna sat at the opposite end of the table while Gandalf sat to her left while Shirou sat to Saber's right. Everyone else was present as Saber took a deep breath and spoke.<p>

"Shirou I have some information that could be of help to both you and Gandalf, and it could help Rin find the ones who kidnapped her mother." Saber admitted as Shirou and Rin were surprised that Saber knew something, but none of them said a word as they wanted the young blonde haired swordswoman to continue. "The sword the Witch King is now wielding…I recognize it, because someone I knew in my previous life had wielded…it's called Arondight."

"Arondight?" Shirou inquired having never heard of it.

"Wait as in the sword wielded by Lancelot the legendary knight who served King Arthur?" Rin said as she instantly realized the history of the fable sword as she had studied a number of famous knights and those who could qualify for the Saber-class before the start of the Holy Grail War.

"Lancelot?" Legolas inquired.

"Lancelot was known as both Lancelot of the Lake or as the Knight of the Lake, he was the loyal knight who served the legendary King Arthur Pendragon as a Knight of the Round Table. He was the king's friend, but he was renowned as the greatest knight and warrior of his time with no one able to defeat him except for King Arthur which led to him joining his service as his greatest champion. His sword Arondight was the counterpart to King Arthur's legendary sword Excalibur, a holy sword worthy of the perfect knight." Rin replied.

"But unfortunately…" Saber began, but Rin included the next part of Lancelot's history.

"Lancelot's downfall began when he fell in love with King Arthur's queen, Guinevere. I can only guess that when Lancelot and the queen began their affair, the Knight of the Lake must have considered fleeing Camelot with her, but his loyalty to Arthur and his sense of duty prevented him from doing so. Eventually political enemies of the king exposed the affair, the queen was ordered to be executed. Left with little choice, Lancelot attempted to save her, killing several of his fellow knights in the process. Lancelot, who was considered the Perfect Knight, Guinevere, the queen who had made her beloved betray his duty, and Arthur the king who blamed himself for his loyal knight's despair, all suffered from the resulting fallout."

Saber was noticeably distraught at recalling what had happened that day, but thankfully Archer offered a change in subject.

"So what does Lancelot's sword have to do with this?"

"That is because in the last grail war the Berserker-class servant summoned by the Matou Family was Lancelot of the Lake."

"What?" Shirou began as Rin began to realize what Saber was getting at.

"I get it now…if Lancelot was used by the Matou Family in the last war as a servant then they must have possessed something that held a strong tie to the knight like a piece of armor or…his signature sword. But how did you know this? Servants summoned during the previous wars don't retain memories of what happened once the war has ended?"

"It's because I was involved in the last war, but unlike most servants I am technically not dead in my own time yet. I am on the verge of it, but I made a deal with the planet to give me a chance to seek the Holy Grail so I could do my life over. After each war I return to my dying state before the next war." Saber explains as Rin was a bit surprised. "I was the Saber-class servant of Shirou's father."

"WHAT…my dad was a master." Shirou said completely taken off guard by this revelation.

"He served as a true master of the Einzbern Family's servant. I was introduced as the supposed servant of the Einzbern Family's representative Magus they sent while your father was hired by them to be my true master."

"But if you were a part of the last war then what happened?" Shirou demanded wanting to know his father's role in the last war.

Saber took a deep breath before she continued.

"Kiritsugu and one other were the last two masters at the final battle of the Grail War. The other was now the new master of the Archer Servant that had once belonged to the Tohsaka Family Representative, but his servant betrayed him and his new master killed him."

"My father!" Rin exclaimed as she never knew how her father died, but hearing her father was betrayed by his own servant before the master his traitorous servant sided with killed him.

"I don't know what happened exactly, but midway through our battle Kiritsugu appeared and used all of his remaining command seals to force me to destroy the grail."

"WHAT?" Rin and Shirou both exclaimed shocked that Kiritsugu had tried to destroy the Holy Grail, but yet this story seemed to run contrary to what Kirei had told them.

'_Why would you destroy the Holy Grail?' _

Shirou thought trying to understand why his father would do that. Was there something potentially wrong or was there something about the grail that would justify its destruction.

"I see…" Gandalf said as he had been quietly listening to the conversation. "Then the Matou Family is possibly involved with the Dark Lord."

"Yeah, but…"Rin began before she suddenly bolted out of the dining room.

"RIN!" Shirou called out as everyone else went after the young woman.

The group followed Rin as she hurried across Fuyuki City to the Matou Residence where Rin began banging on the front door before frantically running the doorbell, but there was no answer as the house had seemed deserted. Shirou and Saber followed from behind while Gandalf and Legolas were alert for anything that could attempt to ambush them, but it was daylight so the chance of anyone making such a move would be foolish.

"Rin…hold on!" Shirou said trying to reason with the panicked girl, but Rin didn't respond as used one of her small gems to destroy the lock allowing her to enter the mansion. Inside they saw no sign of anyone having been in the mansion for a time at least not within a week or so, but it added to Shirou's concerns as Rin was obviously worried for Sakura.

"What exactly is wrong Rin? It's about the Matou Family's possible involvement with Sauron is bothering you isn't it?" Archer inquired.

Gandalf, Legolas, Saber and Nienna cautiously followed behind them entering the mansion, but once they were inside a voice at the top of the stairs drew their attention. Lelouch was standing there with a smirk on his face as he surprised them by speaking.

"Well now…I didn't think you were the type to break an entry Rin."

"Lelouch…where is Sakura?" Rin demanded.

"I'll compliment you all on figuring it out, but as for Sakura she is not here…however if you wish to see her along with Aoi then you must go to the Fuyuki Stadium at ten p.m. tonight." Lelouch answered candidly.

"Why did you kidnap MY MOTHER you bastard!" Rin roared.

"Me…you are mistaken and allow me to correct you. Someone else who wants to kick your sorry excuse for a magus's butt kidnapped her and wants a duel against you and your servant, but she wanted insurance to make sure none of your friends would interfere and to make sure you would come." Lelouch spoke as Gandalf moved to the bottom of the stairs looking at Lelouch.

"Are you a servant or someone he controls…?" Gandalf said as he began muttering something in an ancient language before waving his hand in front of him attempting to dispel whatever control he presumed the Dark Lord must be holding over him, however the white wizard failed to grasp that before them IS the Dark Lord. "I release you…"

"Ah Gandalf the White and so we meet again, but this is the first time we meet in person I believe. Legolas the elf prince and former member of the Fellowship that traveled with Frodo Baggins and lastly and certainly least whose presence in Japan is surprising…Queen Nienna of the Valar." Lelouch spoke as his words stunned Gandalf and Legolas as the former Britannian prince bowed politely to the Valar Queen.

"Who are you?" Shirou demanded.

"You are not just a servant are you?" Gandalf spoke instantly suspecting something else about the young man.

"What's wrong Gandalf the White? Is it the fact that I'm no longer an incorporeal being that merely menaces you with a silly eye? Or is it the fact…" Lelouch spoke as his form began changing as he began transforming into the Dark Lord Sauron in full armor. "I have been reborn mightier than ever before. No proxies this time, no Saruman, no Grima Wormtongue, no Witch King…just you and me." Lelouch spoke as he stood before them all as the Dark Lord Sauron.

"YOU ARE THE DARK LORD!" Rin shouted in complete shock as Lelouch was indeed the Dark Lord reborn.

"Sauron, Mairon or even Lelouch call me by which name you prefer, but I am a new Dark Lord born from the merger of Lelouch vi Britannia, the eldest son of Empress Marianne, the prince who was abandoned by his empire with that of the Dark Lord of Mordor into a new Dark Lord who will destroy the Holy Britannian Empire."

"You're a Britannian Prince?" Archer inquired as he took up a defensive stance.

"Formerly is more of the proper word, but yes I was. You see I simply wasn't sent back as you were Gandalf. I was reborn as a human being…I was born like any other human. I grew up and experienced things, but after my mother was viciously assassinated and my sister crippled and left blind as a result we were both exiled here to Japan to be used as political bargaining tools." Lelouch explained as he recalled what happened, but he knew the truth now. "However as the greedily Genbu Kururugi sold out his country of Japan to Britannia to trigger a war so they could conquer it and in exchange become a member of the nobility…my ring found its way back to me and I awoke."

"How did you come back?" Nienna asked calmly.

"Eru was the one of course…who else could have done it?"

"WHAT?" Gandalf said as his expression showed his shock at the revelation, although he had suspected it yet he didn't understand why.

"There is a specific task the creator wants me to do and he wants someone to destroy Britannia for a crime they plan to commit against him which could undo everything. In exchange I'll be fully pardoned of all of my crimes." Lelouch answered as he left everyone speechless. "So I intend to carry out my calling and I will crush Britannia…as the creator commands."

"Lelouch…why…your war with Britannia will cost people their lives." Shirou demanded.

"Yes I know, but Japan will be liberated from Britannia as an end result."

"The end result?" Shirou shouted.

"Do you think anything can be done without spilling blood, liberating a country is one of those things? Will there be sacrifice? Yes and not just soldiers, but innocent bystanders, as well. Even so…no…because of that, I cannot stop. Even if I need to cheat and hurt others, I must persevere. To that end I must become carnage incarnate. I must spill yet more blood, so that the blood already spilt will not be in vain."

"But that's wrong…" Shirou began, but Lelouch interrupted and asked.

"Then I ask you Shirou Emiya…what do you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat by just means? Do you stain your hands with evil to destroy evil, or do you remain steadfastly just and righteous even if it means surrendering to evil?"

Shirou couldn't think of an answer, but Saber seeing an opening launched herself at the Dark Lord attempting to attack him, but Caster appeared as a powerful magical shield was raised before the charging blonde haired woman repelling her. Caster stood before them now as Archer calmly remained ready for a fight, but so far the Dark Lord wasn't interested in fighting them it seemed.

"Allow me to introduce you to my servant of the Caster class." Lelouch said as he introduced Caster to the group.

"Greetings everyone…Gandalf the White I must say as a fellow user of the arcane it's an honor to finally meet you in person." Medea spoke.

"On that note I am very disappointed in your lack of manners Saber…or should I call you King Arthur Pendragon or would Arturia Pendragon do?" Lelouch said mockingly as Shirou and Rin were surprised that the Dark Lord knew Saber's true identity. "I knew about you from the notes Zouken had on you and the other servants from the last war he had kept after I killed the bastard along with Shinji for their treatment of Sakura."

"So that's what happened…Shinji didn't disappear and Zouken…" Rin began as Lelouch nodded.

"Yes and Zouken died by my hand and the resurrected Witch King whom Shinji was sacrificed for to bring back. Their fates were well deserved, but I'll leave that explanation for Sakura…the poor girl suffered terribly at their hands until I saved her."

"What happened?" Rin demanded, but Lelouch waved it off.

"I am sorry, but I'll leave that for Sakura. I'll see you all tonight at the stadium I have preparations I must attend to."

"WAIT!" Gandalf shouted.

"We can talk more lately, but here is some food for thought…why would the creator bring me back? Reincarnated in an exiled prince of Britannia to destroy Britannia as a new Dark Lord…what could have that country done to deserve such a fate?"

Without another word Caster collected her master as the two vanished through a teleportation spell returning to Minas Morgul. The collected group was shocked while Rin was visibly shaken by finding out that Lelouch was in fact the bloody Dark Lord and her sister was somehow involved in some way or was she enslaved somehow.

Gandalf was surprised as well as he didn't think the Dark Lord would have been reborn as a human, but yet he knew the Dark Lord couldn't have lied about how he came back knowing that only Eru could have preformed such a thing. Legolas didn't know what to say while Nienna was silent in deep thought pondering over all she had just learned.

Shirou wasn't sure what to say either, but he was helping Saber back to her feet.

"Is it true…are you King Arthur?"

Saber was quiet for a moment, but she knew there was no point in hiding it now.

"I am… Arturia Pendragon is my true name however."

* * *

><p>Back at Minas Morgul Lelouch sat down in a nearby chair as he removed his helmet while Caster stood behind him. The Dark Lord didn't seem troubled that Gandalf and the others had figured out his identity, but Lelouch knew it was inevitable since Saber having fought in the last war and due to the circumstances beyond his understanding at the moment she retained memories of the previous war. That fact aside, having been King Arthur alone she would have recognized the Witch King's new sword, however she did remember the last war and the fact that Kariya Matou had summoned Lancelot as a Berserker so Lelouch knew it was only a matter of time.<p>

Yet tonight the match Sakura had waited for would come and this time the Dark Lord was taking steps to ensure nothing would interrupt it. It would remain a battle between the sisters and their servants and no one else…unless they wanted Aoi to be killed. As Lelouch was walking down the hall of castle-city Medea turned to him and asked quietly trying to be wary of any eavesdroppers.

"Master if I may have a word with you."

"Go ahead Medea."

The two stopped as Medea spoke to the Dark Lord once she was certain no one else was around.

"My lord, forgive me for speaking out of turn, but you might want to talk to Sakura."

"What do you mean?"

"Lelouch have you been aware of Sakura's feelings for you?"

"Well yes we are like siblings."

Medea wasn't sure how to proceed so she took a moment to choose her next words carefully.

"I think Sakura holds you in a much higher regard than that. She is actually in love with you I think."

"What?" Lelouch said genuinely surprised by that fact. Despite being able to read minds he had never peaked inside Sakura's mind not since they were children so he didn't see the exact depth of her feelings for him. But seeing the look on Caster's face made him reconsider into thinking he should probably check.

"I know about you and Kotonoha, but I am concerned about Sakura if she finds out."

Lelouch didn't respond right away as he was processing this new bit of information, but something drew his attention away as he sensed something.

"What is it?"

"It seems we have company…someone is trying to break through my barrier surrounding Minas Morgul."

Outside the Bountiful Field surrounding Minas Morgul it was Berserker and his master Ilya who had been following the trail of a trespasser who had passed through the Einzbern Estate, but after launching into a late pursuit because she was still recovering from her last battle which sent her away in tears with Berserker a complete mess.

Now Ilya had followed the trail the trespasser had made and it lead to the boundary of what the young girl found to be a Bountiful Barrier much stronger than the one around the Einzbern Castle back home in Germany, but she was determined to break through it.

"Come on Berserker just a little more and I think we can break through." Ilya ordered.

Although the young Einzbern Magus had to admit that the barrier was a lot stronger than she thought, but whatever was behind it must be something worth hiding and the little girl intended to find out what exactly. As Berserker kept pounding away at it the barrier suddenly to her surprise opened up allowing the young child-size master entry along with her servant.

Walking through the opening the two found themselves on the stone bridge leading across the river to Minas Morgul as they beheld the imposing sight of the City-Fortress as its walls including the tower beyond were paler than the moon while the walls shone with a pale, frightening light. Berserker with Ilya riding on her servant's right shoulder advanced across the bridge towards the lair of the Dark Lord as the white haired homunculus felt a cold shiver travel down her spine as something in the back of her mind was screaming for her to flee the castle before her and not go anywhere closer to it.

Once they were close to the large black gates the twin doors slowly opened as a young woman stepped out to greet the Servant and her master with the company of two Ringwraiths by her side with their swords drawn and held in ceremonial combat positions ready to engage the servant. Fujino stood quietly before the giant as she spoke politely.

"Declare yourself why have you trespassed on my lord's dominion."

"**Trespassed**, part of this land belongs to the Einzbern Family so it's YOU who are trespassing." Ilya snapped.

"The authority of the Einzbern Family is not recognized by my master."

"Berserker cut her in half!"

With a mighty roar Berserker raised his sword to cleave Fujino in two, but a calm "Bend" from her blew the giant warrior's head apart as the Ringwraiths advanced upon the wounded servant with Fujino backing away. Berserker fell to the ground with Ilya hoping away, but the Ringwraiths were quick as they surrounded the magus.

"The master shall have a word with you...child."

"I don't think so…" Ilya spoke confidently as Berserker slowly rose back up to his feet. The Ringwraiths turned around to engage the downed Berserker as its head regenerated, but a swipe from its sword knocked one over the bridge while cutting into one, but the black breath quickly infected as the Nine Lives began cracking around the blade of the axe-like sword weapon.

The Nazgul was also knocked into the river over the bridge leaving Fujino alone with Berserker, but he was slowed down as the Black Breath began inducing extreme drowsiness as Hercules was fighting to remain conscious. But for Fujino no more would be required of her as Lelouch in his full armor as the Dark Lord Sauron stepped forth wielding Alduin with Caster right behind him along with Khamul the Easterling.

But instead of the usual black robes and silver mail armor worn by the other Ringwraiths the second in command to the Ringwraiths wore a new suit of armor fashioned for him designed with some elements of Easterling armor from Rhun. Now quite as endowed in enchantments as the Witch King's, but it was reinforced with protection spells from fire and made to be quite durable.

It was a pale gray with black robes over the shoulders acting as cloak and a hood over the Nazgul's invisible head, but upon it was a silver helmet with curved horns with a single point doing down the middle of the helmet between where the eyes of the Nazgul would be. But the enchantments on the armor however made the Nazgul quite fast and agile including increasing his already formidable strength and powers.

"So Ilya I presume…I would be almost impressed for finding my lair, but I believe it was Akiha who unknowingly led you to me during her search for my castle."

"You're a master and a servant…how fun I get to kill one today."

"You'll have to try for it little girl, but I assure you by the time this is over you will regret coming here."

"Nothing can beat Berserker…take him out!" Ilya ordered as Berserker despite being affected with the Black Breath forced itself forward attempting to cleave the Dark Lord in two, but Lelouch held out his hand as a red shield of energy rose up blocking the strike as the Dark Lord began chanting a spell in the Black Speech of Mordor.

"**One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them to the Dark Lord on his dark throne." **Lelouch spoke as the red energy shield grew larger with each part of the verse he spoke. **"In the Land of Mordor where the Shadows lie."**

Caster, Ilya, Khamul, Lelouch including Berserker were engulfed by the blinding light as they appeared moments later standing in the middle of a volcanic wasteland all around them with the ground made up of black volcanic rock and ash with the skies blackened by thick clouds of smoke generated from a massive volcano nearby spewing fire into the sky while in the distance facing Mount Doom was the Dark Lord's greatest stronghold Barad-dur. Ilya and Hercules stood in the middle of the wasteland between the volcanic mountain and Sauron's old fortress in the land of Mordor.

But more specifically they were all within the Dark Lord's Reality Marble which was a complete recreation of the Black Land of Mordor.

"Magnificent isn't it?" Lelouch spoke standing one hundred yards away as his head was moving about to admire seeing the ancient land once more. "This land was quite something…sure it didn't look like much, but it had natural mountains surrounding it on almost all sides making it a excellent natural defense against my enemies and the volcano behind you was perfect for my sorcery and forging…I do miss it somewhat."

"A Reality Marble?" Ilya exclaimed.

"Correct my young child…one of my own creations, but I haven't had a chance to battle test it. Yet with the Grail War in full swing I could use a good work out to test my powers, but I worry your Servant won't be much of a sparring partner."

"You are bluffing."

"Am I…one thing you better learn quickly Miss Einzbern is that you face no mere human, but someone who is of true divine origins unlike Hercules…let us begin." Lelouch spoke darkly as he snapped his fingers before war horns could be heard all around them. In a mad frenzy rush the air became filled with thousands of running feet moving across the desolate wasteland.

Ilya saw in the distance approaching from a massive army of over twenty thousand troops consisting of Orcs, Uruks, Trolls, Easterlings and Haradrim. Behind the initial advancing wave of troops was a number of mumakil with Haradrim archers upon them including other siege weapons which included catapults. With a wave of the Dark Lord's hand Ilya was elevated onto a platform of rock which came with a mystical shield allowing her to view the entire battle from a safe distance without getting mixed up in it.

"Everything in this land obeys my will."

The orcs were upon Berserker first although one swing from his Nine Lives killed a dozen at once, but more of them quickly surrounded and began swarming upon the Servant like piranhas converging on a piece of raw meat. Soon others began joining in as they began hacking away at the Servant, but despite Orcs on his arms and back Berserker kept fighting.

But arrows from archers soon began flying at the Servant; however they weren't having much effect.

Caster and Khamul silently watched the fight while Berserker was at the heart of a literal dog pile, but thanks to the God Hand Noble Phantasm of Hercules his body soon became immune to their weapons and attacks, but on the offhand having lost a life to the combination of both the Black Breath and the brutal attacks of the Armies of Mordor the Servant regenerated completely to the point Berserker was back at full strength as it fought back with much more vicious ferocity in its attacks. The battle went on for a good thirty minutes as Berserker felled close to a thousand enemies, but more of the remaining army kept coming with a giant armored troll armed with a giant sword began fighting Hercules. Deciding enough was enough Lelouch transformed into a terrible werewolf and leapt into the advancing army to attack Hercules head on.

The black furred wolf hurried through the ranks of the advancing troops before flanking Hercules from the side and tearing its face off with its claws and razor sharp teeth before transforming into a snake to avoid the violent retribution of the angry Berserker and slipping underneath the legs of the towering warrior before shifting into a vampire bat and taking off into the sky narrowly avoiding Berserker's grasp.

The angry warrior began hurling large rocks into the air trying to nail Lelouch, but the vampire bat flew higher into the sky until it vanished into the black clouds above. However the higher he went the more the army began fleeing away from Berserker. Lelouch descended, but he was no longer a vampire bat…instead he had assumed a gigantic and more terrible form. A massive armored clad fire-breathing dragon larger than anything anyone had seen with an metallic armored body that would dwarf the one bolster by the dragon Smaug and yet he was slightly larger than the dragon that once dwelled in the Lonely Mountain.

With flaming red eyes and horns on his head mirroring those of the crown-like helmet the Dark Lord wore the Dragon let loose a glass-shattering roar that could be heard for miles. The Dark Lord began to descend towards Berserker as the latter began hurling things at the approaching dragon since he wasn't close enough for the mighty Servant to leap onto his giant foe.

Yet the closer he came Lelouch began opening his mouth before a stream of fire that burned hotter than the fires of any volcano save for maybe Mount Doom consumed the Servant on the ground and anything unfortunate enough to be nearby. Ilya alone was safe, but even despite all of the magical wards in place she could feel the heat making her magic shield bubble a mini sauna…without those wards the full feel of the heat from the flames alone would have killed her.

Even from their safe distance being over two hundred yards away they could feel the intense heat. As Lelouch flew over the cooked Servant the Dark Lord moved higher back into the air as the flames died down as Hercules skeletal carcass remained, but almost surprisingly the Servant was beginning to come back to life.

It took a minute or two, but Hercules reformed himself. Caster chose this time to aid her master by attacking from above with Rain of Light as she bombarded the large servant with dozens of beams of light in quick rapid succession which took off a limb before a head and then leaving a burning hole in Berserker's chest.

Once Berserker regenerated again as the number of lives were almost diminished. Khamul joined in attacking the large Servant moving faster than ever before as he easily dodged and evaded Hercules's frenzied swings. His sword wasn't doing anything to the giant brute, but from above the Dark Lord changed from his dragon form back into his natural form as Dark Lord…yet he made his height slightly taller than Berserker.

Landing in front him of Berserker the Dark Lord mentally commanded Khamul to move out of the way as Lelouch hurried in and with one mighty swing of his mace he shattered Hercules's Nine Lives leaving the Servant without a weapon save for his fists. Despite all of his armor the Dark Lord dodged and evaded all of Berserker's punches as it tried almost desperately to land a hit.

"Let's end this…**Morannon, Black Gate of Mordor!**" Lelouch spoke about to unleash a new ability that he is so far able to use within his Reality Marble, but once it was complete he could use it at will. A doorway into the void was likely the best description as a dimensional door of some kind opened up behind Lelouch revealing an empty void, but many weapons contained within began emerging.

Over four hundred weapons, spears, swords, maces, axes, halberds all kinds of melee weapons from the Elder Days and the First Age of Middle Earth began poking out from the void behind Lelouch.

"As a Maiar of Aule and then in time a full time Servant of the Dark Lord Morgoth I crafted and created many things for my masters, most were weapons and other interesting works…many of which are behind me. The Servant Gilgamesh gave me this idea and I have been working on my own version of it…sadly I can only use it here for now, but once its finished it will be quite useful." Lelouch explained before a charging Berserker seconds the Dark Lord added. "Let me show you something I made for Aule during my time among the Valar!"

Lelouch declared as a long chain shot forth from the void, a duplication created through Projection Magecraft began wrapping itself tightly around Berserker blinding the rampaging Heroic Spirit in place completely immobilizing him.

"As an servant of the Valar and the mightiest of the Maiar serving Aule at the time I had created chains used to blind spies and servants of Morgoth, but of course I would reuse this same chain in the service of Morgoth to blind his stronger prisoners until it was lost when Angband was destroyed. Even my master created a superior version of it that blinded Morgoth after his final capture. Being half-god I guess this means the chain I recreated through Projection is more than enough to hold you."

Lelouch replied coldly as he slowly advanced on Hercules with Alduin drawn.

"Now that makes eleven deaths and if the research into Hercules is right and what I suspected after witnessing your fight with Shirou and Gandalf one more strike will kill you."

Lelouch had done his research into Hercules and began to suspect what was behind his survival from Gandalf's two death blows and his own after Nienna sung her song of power. God Hand, a Noble Phantasm a blessing of the gods in the form of a curse of immortality that grants its user eleven extra lives through layered resurrection magic. The Black Breath took one life with the orc dog pile speeding it up progression of the powerful poison, the ripping off of his face in the Dark Lord's wolf form took another, but the dragon fire attack took at least five lives and then with Caster's Rain of Light taking another.

"I could easily finish you with Morannon, but why do that. I could have just blinded you from the beginning and ended this fight lot quicker with a hailstorm of weapons made for the Valar and Elves including the servants of the Dark Lord Morgoth." The Dark Lord raised his black sword as the blade was hungry for its first kill.

"Now you are ripe to become the first offering to my new sword to make it stronger."

"BERSERKER!" Ilya cried out with tears in her eyes as Hercules struggled desperately to break free.

"Checkmate!" Lelouch said before he decapitated Hercules dealing the Servant the final blow for the twelfth and final time cleaving the servant into six pieces before his remains began to fade away.

Caster had watched the finale and was in complete awe of the Dark Lord's power…it was one thing to sense it, but it was another thing altogether to witness it firsthand. There was no doubt in her mind that the Dark Lord was powerful enough to slay one as powerful as Hercules, but yet Medea couldn't help but wonder if Lelouch had he existed in her time may have been even powerful enough to slay the likes of Zeus and the other gods overthrowing their rule.

That just made her admire Lelouch even more, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel jealous of Kotonoha.

Ilya was stunned as her servant, supposed to the strongest and mightiest servant at her command had been slain by the Dark Lord. The Reality Marble released as everyone appeared back on the bridge of Minas Morgul with a trembling Ilya left alone as she was silently crying for the loss of her servant. But her mind came to a halt as the dark shadow of the Dark Lord loomed over her as Lelouch was looking down at the now terrified little girl.

"Now the only question left is…what do I do with you?"

* * *

><p>AN: Down Berserker went after tangling with the Dark Lord of Mordor within his Reality Marble where it's his rules and he could fight all out, although he had a chance to end it quickly. But to be on the safe side I did stretch it out a bit and I even had to make a separate document to keep track of all of the times Hercules had been killed as well as determine how to kill him. The dragon fire for instance took at least more than one life, but Lelouch sensed the magic's keeping Hercules alive after studying his previous battle before finishing him off with his new sword.

Of course let's not forget Hercules and Lelouch fought on the Dark Lord's home field where pretty much it was by his rules and the land within obeys the will of the Dark Lord.

But next chapter its Sakura vs. Rin in round two with their servants with the others forced to sit it out as the two sisters, still unaware of the fact that Sakura had kidnapped Aoi and intends to likely kill Rin or worse. Lelouch's war with Britannia heats up as well as news that the Viceroy is dead along with most of his leading staff has now gotten around with the Black Knights now formed.

That being said the fight between Lelouch and Hercules was also a test fight to test out his Reality Marble and his Black Gate of Mordor, Lelouch's own version of Gate of Babylon although its incomplete. It was thought he would steal Gil's technique, but I am going for Lelouch's own version of it and having been a craftsman Sauron possibly must have had other creations besides the One Ring he made while in service to Aule and later Morgoth.

Also as for the harem, which might start forming next chapter thanks to Kotonoha and Medea, but I have decided to bump up the number of women involved with Lelouch to nine to match the number of Ringwraiths so that means two more are getting added on and for one I decided on Fujino for the number eight spot.

But who gets the number nine spot…some have pitched ideas for that spot holder. I posted three of them suggested to me by Thanathos, who were Altrouge Brunestud, Sumire the Water Demon and Yamase Maiko as possibilities. Of course I am open to suggestions and I am not likely to make my final decision, although if you need information on them I have posted it in my forum topic related to this story in my Code Geass Crossovers R&D forum.

I have a small poll there as well to determine the best one, but that will depend on what I can come up for them too including how to fit them into the story and such.

Anyway please review and let me know it is and if anyone has an idea who should be number nine for Lelouch's harem let me know by review or PM and see you guys in the next chapter.


	12. Chapter 12 Pain from the Past

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews they keep me going and I love the input I see in them. Well it took awhile, but after getting stuck I finally managed to overcome the issue I had in this chapter and I managed to finish it. Also if you haven't seen on my profile already I have a second chance poll of shorts for the final harem post deciding poll going. I started it up with the top five from the last poll…I am so indecisive about pairings sometimes it just frustrates the hell out of me lol. While the choice will be made depending on how the story goes the poll will help narrow it down. Of course you have the opinion of leaving in a review or in my forum post for this fic on why said character should be included that could change my mind. Also to answer a previous question Kallen and Lancer will likely end up as a couple unless I change my mind and put her with Lelouch, which means I would have to replace C.C.

* * *

><p>Chapter 12<p>

Pain from the Past

Near the Tohno Mansion front gates Hisui and Arcueid were returning after a quick shopping trip to stockpile on supplies for the household while Shiki with Kohaku helping were renewing their search for Akiha. Hisui and Arcueid remained mostly at the mansion to keep an eye on Ciel whose condition had gradually been improving, but yet she hadn't awakened yet.

But that didn't mean that Arcueid was idle as she was trying to contact an old friend, but sadly there was no answer…yet a voice message left behind gave her some hope. Calling the number left the True Ancestor finally came across some luck. Although the person Arcueid sought wasn't there she did leave a message and hoped she would see him soon.

If there was one person who was going to know answers she needed then it would be him.

* * *

><p>After leaving the Matou Mansion and returning to the Emiya Estate Rin had not spoken a word even as Shirou joined Saber, Gandalf, Legolas, Nienna and Archer in the dining room while the Tohsaka Magus was left by herself for a moment.<p>

Shirou wasn't sure how to approach this problem, but the gantlet has been thrown. Yet finding out that someone like Sakura was involved with the Dark Lord of all people was a tough pill to swallow.

"What do we do now?" Legolas inquired.

"I am not certain, but all we can do for now is for Rin to answer the challenge." Gandalf admitted reluctantly.

"But she could be walking into a trap?" Saber pointed out.

"I know, but we don't know where the Dark Lord is hiding."

"He is likely hiding somewhere either within the city or along its outskirts if you consider the modes of transportation used by the Ringwraiths," Shirou suggested.

"I agree," Saber said nodding her head.

"Although judging from the Dark Lord's words…what if Sakura is the one Rin will be facing."

An uneasy silence fell across the room at Nienna's sudden statement, but it was a possibility they couldn't ignore. Yet it was something Shirou didn't want to accept because from the times he met Sakura he couldn't see her as the type who could lash out violently at anyone.

* * *

><p>Speaking of whom, at Minas Morgul...a ritual had been prepared on the bridge outside the main gates.<p>

"Sakura are you sure about this?" Medea inquired as she stood behind the young woman in her black robes with her staff in hand after Rider finished a summoning circle on the spot where Hercules had been standing when he was slain. Medea at the young woman's humble request detected where the spot was marked by some remnant of the magic that had brought Berserker into the world.

But also some of the blood he had spilt when Fujino blew his head off remained along with bits of hair.

Behind them watching with curiosity in her eyes was Kotonoha as Sakura began preparing her to perform a summoning as she laid the final piece for the ritual she was planning…a piece of polished armor from decades ago.

"Yes…I want to crush Rin with the Servant he used."

"But a Berserker-class servant had already been summoned, so how can you summon another one?" Medea asked.

"That is where your Noble Phantasm Rule Breaker comes in." Sakura replied as she held the fabled Noble Phantasm in her free hand before striking the center of the blood of Hercules with it. "I'll summon a Berserker Servant more powerful than Hercules…True Berserker."

Sakura took a deep breath as a painful memory came to the surface as she remembered standing outside the Matou Mansion one night ten years ago…it was the night of the terrible fire in Fuyuki City, but a more terrible tragedy had happened. The one person in the Matou Family who had truly cared for her had died under the illusion that he had ran away with Aoi and her. Remembering Kariya Matou's death a hard look of determination became etched upon her face as she began chanting.

"Silver and iron to the origin, gem and the archduke of contracts to the cornerstone. The ancestor is my great master Schweinorg. The alighted wind becomes a wall. The gates in the four directions close, coming from the crown, the three-forked road that leads to the kingdom circulate." Sakura spoke holding her staff with both hands before tapping it on the ground before her with the summoning circle beginning to glow.

"Shut, Shut, Shut, Shut, Shut, Repeat every five times…simply, shatter once filled. I announce your self is under me; my fate is in your sword. In accordance with the resort of the Holy Grail, if you abide by this feeling, this reason, then answer." The young woman continued as the summoning circle grew brighter as the ground around it began shaking, but Sakura wasn't deterred as she kept going as determination drove her to continue.

"Here is my oath. I am the one who becomes all the good of the world of the dead; I am the one who lays out all the evil of the world of the dead. You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence, O keeper of the balance, yet, thou serve with thine eyes clouded in chaos. Thou bound in the cage of madness. I am he who commands those chains…COME FORTH!"

An explosion of power erupted as a thick cloud of white smoke covered the entire bridge. Everyone was stunned as no one believed that Sakura's summoning was going to work, but it did as the smoke cleared and a fearsome knight in black armor stood in the heart of the summoning circle.

* * *

><p>As the results of the summoning ritual was about to be beheld Lelouch was inside Minas Morgul having adopted more of a regal style of dress consisting of a black robe lined with gold with a red flaming eye like emblem on his belt made up of a large red jewel and gold. The black robe also had leather padding on the shoulders to imitate armor while the forearms had leather armor upon them, there was also gold embody on the back and on the sides of the robe giving Lelouch a majestic air about him, but an intimidating appearance as well. Underneath the robe he wore was a black shirt with a matching cravat and black leather-like pants with matching boots to match the appearance of his robe. The Dark Lord came to a door as he used a simple gesture to magically unlock the door as he entered the guest room where Akiha Tohno was being confined.<p>

Compared to the small prison cell C.C was being kept in the guest room Akiha was stuck in was well furnished and not a bad place to get locked up in. Although Lelouch was a little more concerned about Sakura he decided to hold off on dealing with the _issue _until he had addressed two other problems that needed his attention. Namely Akiha and then he had to see Ilya and make his final decision regarding the small girl's fate.

Since Akiha was awake he decided to visit her first as the Dark Lord stepped inside he found that the young Tohno Heiress was indeed awake and sitting up and she instantly noticed Lelouch's presence.

"Good day Miss Tohno, I apologize for you waking in unfamiliar conditions…however you arrived here by very particular circumstances," Lelouch began politely before introducing himself. "I am the master of this castle, Lord Sauron."

Akiha didn't seem certain how to respond to it, but she decided to greet her unexpected host.

"I see, but you know who I am. Yet I don't know how I got here?"

"I suspected as much. When my men found you they told me you didn't seem responsive as you had been in some kind of trance. I am curious what caused it and how you found your way here despite my many attempts to conceal this castle from the world."

"You didn't summon me here and you claim I came by some other power is what you are saying?"

"No, because having the daughter and heir to the Tohno clan, a clan of half demons might end up being rather troublesome for me."

Lelouch's mention of the fact her family and some of the sub branches surprised Akiha while the Dark Lord smirked in response.

"I am aware of the secrets of the Tohno blood and its sub branches, which is why I do have a suspicion as to what might have brought you here," Lelouch began before continuing. "Long ago during the days of my service in my former master Melkor I had supervised the creation of a new type of creature that had the destructive capabilities of a Balrog, but we were trying to make them more compact, but also to be similar to Men so they could slip into target cities and kingdoms and could attack from within inflicting considerable damage as our armies arrive to conquer them. Think of them as potent sleeper agents."

"I see, but I don't understand how this has anything to do with me?"

"That is a good question indeed, but I am getting to that." Lelouch said quickly. "Ultimately the human and Balrog-style hybrids sadly did not live up to expectations. Some were destroyed, others were killed in war, but some a good number survived by going into hiding. Some humans even felt pity for them and had children and their children had children leading to different _demons _emerging and then ultimately half demons such as yourself as the blood thinned through each generation and so forth. However the hybrids were designed with a _recall _signal that would recall any hybrid to me even the children of them. The only plausible explanation I have for you is that you are a descendant of the hybrids that I and Melkor had created and the recall command we wired into them had successfully passed on to you through the generations."

Akiha was stunned as the Dark Lord's words sunk in the woman looked up at him as she asked.

"Just what are you?"

"I am obviously not human, but rather I was at one point before I awoke."

Suddenly something drew the Dark Lord's attention as he looked to the side. Akiha looked as well trying to see what the Dark Lord was seeing, but she didn't possess the sight the Dark Lord had.

"What is it?"

"My goodness it seems I am having a rather busy day. It seems you were followed."

* * *

><p>Outside the castle at that moment attempting to stealthy cross the bridge after following Akiha through. She had laid low for awhile waiting for things upon the bridge to quiet down before attempting to enter the castle across the moat uncertain of what to expect inside. The young woman had followed Akiha suspecting something might have taken control of her mind luring her away from Misaki City, although she was hoping it was the quarry she sought.<p>

She doubted the vampire she sought was in the castle, but yet what had taken over Akiha merit investigation and seeing the powerful magic behind the field and within the castle itself further investigation was definitely warranted. However she would need to act very cautiously as she felt the hair on the back of her neck raise up as something about the aura of the castle head chilled her blood cold sending shivers down her spine.

She wasn't afraid, but something about the castle spurred on feelings of fear and fright within her.

The female intruder began making her way across the bridge, but before she reached the gate the heavy armored doors opened up revealing two Ringwraiths, but in-between them was Kotonoha wearing a black Iaido practitioner uniform complete with a modified combat kimono and hakama with the red eye of Sauron on the back and her hair was left hanging while at her side was a specially forged Shinken in a black scabbard while also tucked in her waist was a Morgul Blade.

"Hello and welcome to Minas Morgul, please state your business," Kotonoha began politely before waiting for the woman to respond.

Kotonoha examined her as the woman seemed to be around her age wearing a short white skirt with a kind of purple short sleeve top that looked like a school uniform of some kind with an orange tie and some gold trimmings wearing a beret-style hat that matched the color of her shirt and thigh-high purple leg stockings with matching shoes. The woman had a seemingly pale skin completion with purple eyes and long light purple hair braided into a long ponytail that extended almost to the ground. On her wrists were gold bracelets and in one hand was handgun of an unusual design.

Sion Eltnam Atlasia stood before Kotonoha and the two Ringwraiths accompanying her ready for a likely battle.

"What exactly is this place, just who is the master of this castle?"

"I asked for your identity, so please tell me." Kotonoha reasserted politely still.

Deciding on a shoot first and ask questions later approach Sion opened fire on Kotonoha, but in that instant the black haired woman was gone reappearing behind her. As a frightening smile appeared on her face as she was about to draw her sword, a weapon forged by the hand of the Dark Lord. Sion nearly lost her head as she back flipped over her foe, but Kotonoha was terrifyingly fast as she was already bringing her blade around for another strike.

Acting quickly Sion fired off some rounds from her handgun to stop Kotonoha's advance forcing the woman on the defensive long enough for Sion to land back on the ground. Thanks to her unique abilities Sion, despite being caught off guard momentarily, was able to keep up with the high speed and quick ferocity of Kotonoha's sword swing and thrusts.

If she had been an ordinary human being then there was no doubt she would have been dead a minute ago.

Her overclock ability was helping her stay ahead of Kotonoha's quick attacks, but a prolonged battle would be ill advised. But unknown to the two women Lelouch was observing the fight as he was trying to deduce which organization the woman was involved with. Sion tried to shoot Kotonoha, but the young woman was as surprisingly quick at dodging as she was at dishing out attacks. Thus far the battle was a stalemate between the two women as they were seemingly equal in speed and combat experience.

Hurling her sword at Sion like spear the purple haired woman dodged it before firing bullet after bullet at black haired woman, but Kotonoha dodged every shot before she began…singing. Lelouch smiled mischievously as there was one thing he noticed about Kotonoha was that she had an abnormal affinity for songs of power and the spells that could be used with them. Her voice was that of a siren, but worse was the sword she had thrown that had embedded itself into the ground behind Sion acted as a kind of tuning fork that magically amplified the song Kotonoha was seeing.

Increasing the spell's effectiveness ten-fold.

Having never encountered a spell such as the one Kotonoha was unleashing Sion was stopped in her own tracks as the song pierced her ears and began causing her whole body to grow numb as strength was leaving her limbs and a resounding sharp stinging pain was felt within her mind stopping her where she stood which was behind Kotonoha having been preparing to attack from behind. Now Sion was fighting to stay on her feet, but even while she was singing Kotonoha went in for the kill deliver a quick roundhouse kick followed up by some forward jabs to Sion's torso. Despite Sion showing remarkable endurance and attempts to resist the effects of the spell the battle was effectively over as Kotonoha continued her melee attacks as her song did its work.

Finally after one final punch in the face, Sion was down for the count.

With orders from the Dark Lord they went to retrieve the alchemist and bring her into the castle. Some of her talents could be useful in his long term goals if Lelouch could sway her to his side. He didn't recognize it at first, but he was familiar with the Atlas organization.

Atlas or better known as The Giant's Pit, has its headquarters located somewhere among the mountains of Egypt according to notes Zouken had on the organization. Unlike some organizations the Atlas institute is focused on the study and development of Alchemy, but members of Atlas has diverge from the classical view of the alchemist from the Middle Ages and are more worried about the greater truths of the universe. It is the most independent of the Three Great Branches that make up the Magus Association; it has its own terms of relationship with the Holy Church and other magic organizations. Not surprisingly, these traits cause Atlas to be disliked by the Clock Tower and the Prague Association.

Lelouch knew that according to notes and records Zouken had on them the Atlas organization has been recently trying to prevent the end of the world.

"Taking another prisoner?" Medea inquired joining her master on the wall overlooking the bridge.

"Yes…this time this one is an alchemist from Atlas."

"An alchemist?"

"Yes and the ones from Atlas are different from your typical short. Her combat skills were impressive to behold. Perhaps if she could be recruited then she could be useful."

"Oh," Medea began with a playful smirk. "Forgive me for saying master, but you seem to be attracting quite the female following as of late. The heiress of the Tohno Household and now this alchemist, but there is Kotonoha and Sakura as well too...let's not forget Fujino too."

"What exactly are you implying?" Lelouch asked while raising an eyebrow.

"We talked about this before master, but Sakura obviously has romantic feelings for you and you are already involved with Kotonoha on a very personal level. I am concerned that if Sakura finds out on her own she might be crushed by the revelation. I doubt she'll take rejection well."

"If you speak the truth then there may be a problem."

"What do you mean?"

"I had promised Sakura that I would be protect and care for her."

"How is that a problem if you don't mind me asking," Medea inquired as she was perplexed how a promise could be a problem.

"When a Maiar or a Valar make a promise, it is binding like a law of nature and not even the creator can undo it."

"Are you serious?"

"Very serious Medea so you can see why this is a bit of a problem."

"Oh," Medea began while reconsidering the next words she had in mind. "You could just marry them both, as a Britannian Prince you could just take both Sakura and Kotonoha?"

"Are you actually suggesting I start a harem?"

"Given the kind of people you are involved with it might be the only way to avoid bloodshed or any kind of deadly reprisals. Besides didn't people have those back then, especially royalty?"

"Among a few humans yes, but no elf to my knowledge never had one while among my especially people such a thing has never been heard of. I don't know about the Dwarves through, but given the danger of extinction the hobbits of this era are facing I could see some probably take on more than one wife to revitalize their dying populations. But back during the days of Middle-Earth they never had anything as far as I knew."

"I see, so there hasn't been a Maiar or a Valar who had a harem?"

"Yes," Lelouch began as he thought about it very carefully before saying. "Actually I don't know if even Melkor had one, but I seriously doubt he even had a mistress in any event such things didn't interest him." Lelouch admitted as even his former master in his past life had never built himself a harem, or at least as far as he knew. One larger part of him was preserved by the idea, but another part of him actually liked it. If he ever did gain a harem then there would be no doubt that it would turn a lot of heads. "Although if I had one," The Dark Lord began with an assumed smile.

"Huh?"

"The children would be half-Maiar just like Luthien was, but would the world be comfortable with such children running about if I did have a number of wives to birth them." Lelouch spoke with a laugh as there was no doubt the children he would have would be half-Maiar, but depending on the women he were to have the children with then the potency of their bloodline could be considerable.

Kotonoha while lacking any special bloodline her children through him would be likely beautiful as Luthien was and yet would be born with considerable power and abilities native to his people. Sakura on the other hand would likely be born with tremendous magecraft potential and given what was done to her body by Zouken their children would very strong in magic regardless of which school or path of magic they chose to take. Likewise similar to Sakura if Fujino bore his children then those children would naturally be born stronger and longer living, if not outright immortal, they would also carry her family's demon hunter bloodline while his own blood would _enrich _it in a sense. Either way any child he has with whatever woman he chose would be born considerably powerful by human standards at least. If anything they might be born similar to how Luthien was between an elf and a Maiar.

"Well that does sound interesting, but even I can't begin to fathom what such children would be like. I take it then there has been no record of a human and a Maiar having a child?"

"The closest known pairing would be Luthien and Beren since Luthien was half-Maiar herself, but otherwise I haven't heard of any."

"Not even you for instance?"

"No I was very careful of not impregnating the women I was with otherwise I could have been exposed, but…" Lelouch began as his voice trailed off. He recalled Ta-Miriel, who was probably the one woman at the time the Dark Lord might actually have not minded using to father children. But that was all in the past and this was now…he already had one queen, but would he take upon more.

"I see, but in any event...Kotonoha and you Dark Lord Sauron will be the first then."

"Yes," Lelouch replied before casting an observing glance at Medea.

"What is it master?"

"I must say through you seemed _very _interested in my love life Medea?"

"What do you mean master?"

"Oh you should know what I mean," Lelouch said almost playfully, but he looked upon the woman with a strong hint of suspicion. "Your concern is noted, but why do I get the suspicion there is something else you are not mentioning to me?"

"Well," Medea began as Lelouch had her cornered with a light blush on her face, but thankfully intervention came in the form of Khamul who had arrived much to Medea's relief.

"Forgive my interruption master, but the child prison is causing a…disturbance."

"I see," Lelouch said as he decided to address the issue himself, but he turned back to Medea and said with a grin. "We'll finish our discussion later."

But as Lelouch proceed to leave another problem arose as the sun had set and nightfall had come. The Witch King contacted his master telepathically as it seemed his most feared servant had come across a troublesome problem.

_What is going on Witch King, is it another Britannian attack? _

_Nay my lord, but a more troublesome problem I am faced with. _

_Oh_, Lelouch inquired mentally as standing atop an abandoned building at the Shinjuku Ghetto stood the Witch King, but he wasn't alone as behind him stood a young woman who was possibly in her late teens or older wearing a custom tailored white coat that seemed based off of a mid-twentieth century dress coat, with the longer tails reaching below the knees creating a unique and fashionable look in conjunction with the white dress shirt she wore and wine red dress pants and knee-high brown boots. She had also a red-ribbon-style bow tie and a metal glove on her right hand while holding what seemed like a conducting baton in the other that was about almost 35 inches long. She had a fair skin complexion as her brown eyes looked upon the Witch King with distain while her long brown ponytail hair moved with the wind.

"State your business woman?"

"Do not speak to me with such a tone you lowly magus." The woman snapped before she introduced herself. "I am Lorelei Barthomeloi of the Barthomeloi Family and your men the ones dressed in black robes from what I have learned are behind the deaths of more than fifty Magus Hunters as well as the theft of a relic held by my family."

"Walk away now and you may live," The Witch King warned as he drew his sword.

"You impudent scum…I'll kill you quickly so I can return to more _important _matters."

_Ah the woman finally came perfect, proceed as planned._

_Yes master…_

* * *

><p>"What a day," Lelouch mused as before gathering his strength to transform into a living cloud of smoke as he hurried to the magical mirror he had created as a quick way of moving between Minas Morgul and his Sanctuary below Ashford Academy. Still in his smoke-cloud form the Dark Lord rapidly moved through the passageways until he reached an opening in the old subway tunnels before finding a way to the surface where he ascended to the skies as the formless smoke began to take on the form and features of a dragon.<p>

* * *

><p>Back at Shinjuku Ghetto the Witch King did as he was ordered and was avoiding conflict with the young woman, but Lorelei was becoming clearly vexed.<p>

"Come back here coward!" Lorelei roared chasing the Witch King for the pass twenty minutes she has chased the Lord of the Nazgul, but so far the dark warrior has evaded and lead Lorelei on a chase around the ghetto moving towards the heart of the ghetto itself coming to the base of what remained of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building. It was still standing, but the building had suffered a great deal of structural damage.

"Nay I am not the one you shall face…you wanted the leader of my fellow Ringwraiths. He you shall have…he wants me to thank you for accepting his invitation."

"What?"

"My master has no real quarrel with the Association, but for what he has in mind he knows they will interfere so a demonstration of his power is needed. Take for example a one on one battle with the so called Queen of the Clock Tower?"

"Are you saying the killing of the Magus Hunters were just to lure me here?"

"Not exactly, but the thief of the relic your family had was the bait. Your arrogance is your weakness; you didn't even bring your bridge with you…a very foolish mistake."

"DON'T MOCK ME!"

Using a quick magecraft wind element spell a destructive sphere of wind was gathered and hurled at the Witch King with lightning speed in just under a second, but the Witch King conjured a wall of ice to take the hit for him while he held his sword up to shield himself from whatever was left over. His cape and part of his tabard was cut slightly with the 4-feet inch thick ice wall completely shattered.

Suddenly a strong wind picked up prompting the Witch King to announce grimly.

"He has arrived…"

A thundering roar was heard from the sky above as descending from the clouds was the Dark Lord in his terrible dragon form. The demonic metallic dragon landed in-between the two towers of the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building using its forward claws to support itself upon the two wrecked towers while glaring down at Lorelei unleashing one last deafening roar before shifting into a smoke once again and landing on the ground before Lorelei and the Witch King while rapidly shrinking back down to his human size form, but when the smoke cleared the Dark Lord was before the so called Queen of the Clock Tower floating in the air with black angelic wings wearing his full armor, helmet included.

"**Barthomeloi Lorelei, we finally meet in person. I have heard much about your reputation…thank you for accepting my invitation."** Lelouch greeted kindly.

"Are you their leader?"

"**Yes I am and I think you'll find me MORE than enough of a challenge, but I must warn you in advance that you cannot win against me.**"

"You arrogant…" Lorelei began, but Lelouch grinning mischievously under his mask interrupted.

"**Didn't the Witch King tell you; your arrogance is your weakness.**"

* * *

><p>As the Queen of the Clock Tower and Dark Lord Lelouch faced off, Medea was left in charge of Minas Morgul along with Khamul while the master was away. However the two had a potential issue to deal with as they soon found that Sakura, Rider and the True Berserker were gone. At the Emiya Estate, Rin was standing outside in backyard alone trying to think.<p>

_It can't be you, IT SHOULDN'T BE YOU._

Rin was trying to deny the possibility that the one who might have kidnapped their mother was Sakura, but she just couldn't see let alone accept the possibility. Suddenly out of the shadows Medusa emerged from the trees landing a few yards near Rin.

"Rin, get behind me…" Archer shouted as he appeared to defend his master.

"I am not to fight, but I was entrusted to deliver this invitation." Medusa said raising her hands up before dropping an envelope onto the ground before quickly retreating. Once the servant was gone Rin hurried to retrieve the envelope Medusa had left behind quickly opening it up to look upon its contents.

"What is it?"

"Tickets to the old Fuyuki City Amusement Park, but it have been closed down for almost twelve years." Rin answered sadly as she remembered the amusement park, because it was the place Rin and Sakura had gone to on the last night they were sisters.

"Rin I know you don't want to believe it, but with this you'll have to accept your opponent is likely Sakura."

"But why," Rin demanded as she was clearly becoming emotional.

"I am not sure, but apparently her time with the Matou Family wasn't…pleasant."

"So she wants revenge, but," Rin began still not wanting to accept that Sakura was her enemy and the one behind the kidnapping of their mother.

"Either way your mother is in danger right."

"Yeah…let's go, but we're not telling anyone Archer."

* * *

><p>Back at the Tokyo Settlement, but more specifically at the Stadtfeld Mansion, Mrs. Stadtfeld was nervously waiting for her lover to come to her. Yet it was a little pass ten when she checked the clock, but when she walked over to the phone sitting on the table to call her lover to see what was delaying him she discovered that the phone line was dead. Suddenly the door to the bedroom was knocked out and standing there was a man in a blue jumpsuit with dark blue hair and red eyes.<p>

"Knock knock," The Irishman greeted mockingly. "You are a real piece of work lady, backstabbing your husband for some stuck up general and then you try to off your own stepdaughter after she fled by feeding information to the military about a major resistance hideout. Well you ended up right on that one, but you really pissed off a lot of people and not just your stepdaughter."

"Lancer could please not refer to me as her stepdaughter." Kallen snapped walking into the room.

"Kallen what is the meaning of this?"

"It should be pretty fucking obvious…I am here to kill you. Some of my friends died because of you and that man."

"You can't," The woman said as she ran towards a dresser to get a weapon, but with a nod from Kallen the servant she commanded stopped the older woman in her tracks.

"Doesn't feel right hitting a woman, but," Lancer began as he glared at the woman on the ground after sucker punching her. "I think I'll make this one exception."

"You can't do this Kallen?"

"Who is going to stop me?" Kallen said darkly as Lancer brought out his weapon.

* * *

><p>It was almost eleven o'clock when Rin and Archer arrived at the main gates of the abandoned amusement park, but the once closed gates were wide open. Unfortunate much to Rin's chagrin she and Archer weren't alone as she had been followed by Saber, Shirou, Gandalf, Legolas and Nienna.<p>

"Did you really expect to sneak away unnoticed?" Gandalf replied with a raised eyebrow.

"I have to go alone…my mother is somewhere inside." Rin said sternly.

"But do you really expect it to be a fair duel?" Saber inquired.

"No, but I can't exactly walk away from this," Rin shot back, but suddenly a magically field surrounding the amusement park was activated. Rin and Archer were just inside the field, but Saber and the others couldn't enter the amusement park. However they could see inside, but moments later the lights and the rides within the amusement park began to turn on followed by the corny music you would expect at a carnival starting to play.

"RIN," Shirou shouted, but the young woman ignored him as she preceded further inside. Shirou felt powerless, but there was nothing they could do as Gandalf began examining the barrier while trying to determine the best way to breach it. He only held back out of concern for the hostage Rin's opponent had which could end up getting her killed if the White Wizard was careless. Legolas began examining the surrounding area looking for any sign of the Nazgul or Lelouch, but so far there was no sign of anyone else nearby.

Shirou took a moment to look at Saber seeing the neutral expression upon her face as he recalled the tense conversation he tried to have with Saber earlier after her true identity as the same King Arthur from legend had been revealed.

_However, it's a life I never wished I lived. I want to wish that someone else more proper drew the sword and became King. _

_But Saber, how can you say something that? History regards you as one of history's great kings. _

_You can't understand Shirou. _

_No Saber…I…._

_SHIROU…ENOUGH…_

It was plain to Shirou that the subject was obviously an uncomfortable one, so he didn't push the matter further. Yet he felt that he wanted to talk to Saber about it when a more proper opportunity arises.

Approaching a wide open space in the middle of the park were some old food and snack booths, but a Merry-go-around marked the center of the park. Archer stopped Rin as he pointed to one of the white horses on the ride where a very familiar face armed with a VERY familiar staff was seated upon. Shirou was left speechless as he recognized Sakura dressed in casual attire which consisted of a yellow dress, white shirt and a yellow wool jacket. Yet in her hand was the exact same staff held by the masked Magus Rin had faced some nights before.

"Sakura…it's you, but why?"

"Is it so hard to believe Rin?" Sakura replied with a calm tone as she dismounted the horse and the Merry-go-around before stopping in front of it. "You got to live a wonderful life of privilege with everything given to you while after I was given away I endured horrors you can't even begin to imagine." The young woman's demeanor noticeably changed as Sakura looked upon Rin with disdain and contempt. Yet something else noticeable was happening was that the girl's purples changed to blood red.

"But you were supposed to have been raised into the successor of the Matou Family when they adopted you?"

Sakura began laughing bitterly before answering.

"Successor ha…Zouken used me as a Ginny-pig infusing my body with his parasite worms containing crystallized fragments from the Holy Grail that had been destroyed in the previous war by Saber. Its tainted power flows through my bloodstream leading to the changes in my eye and hair color. You didn't bat an eyelash when you saw me so you obviously didn't care."

"No…that's not true…I never knew."

"Liar…you were just so happy to be in charge now weren't you, but tonight I am going to fix that and give you a taste of what I endured before Lelouch rescued me." Sakura said as Rin and Archer watched in growing worry as Sakura's purple hair faded to white with her hair ribbon changing to purple as well. On Sakura's limbs red marks began to appear while the shadows around where she stood grew darker. "For tonight's event we have a special guest," The former Tohsaka Family member spoke as Rider stepped out from behind the Merry-go-around with Aoi Tohsaka who was tied to the wheelchair she had been bound to for ten years. However much to Rin's surprise her mother's brain damage seemed to have been healed as she was fully aware of what was going on.

"Rin…Sakura stop this!"

"No Aoi I want you to see the Tohsaka precious heir to be battered, bruised and most importantly…broken," Sakura said darkly before the shadows around her sprang to life enveloping her with living shadows trimmed with red forming a long-sleeve dress while the ends of the dress came long reaching tentacles.

"Sakura?" Rin mouthed as she saw the transformed Sakura standing before her.

"You can call me Dark Sakura from this moment on. I am Sakura's darker side born from her suppressed hate, sorrow and rage as well as the essence of the tainted grail. Sakura despite what she feels is far too nice to do this, so I gave her some ideas and then I told her I would do the rest. We have planned extensively for tonight, so much that we have another surprise for you. You shall not be facing my servant Rider, but rather the servant I had wanted to summon however someone else summoned that class before I could. Now that said servant is dead I can summon him now."

"What…Rider is not fighting us?" Archer said not liking where this was going.

"No, someone else…Rider's task is to protect Aoi and keep her out of harm's way so she can enjoy the show."

"Then are you just fighting us? There is no way your body can support two servants at once." Archer said as he brought forth his signature weapons.

"You'll be fighting me yes, but you do have a point. A normal Magus under normal circumstances could only support and command one servant at a time that is true. However I am a different case…Zouken's experiments after Lelouch purged my body of his worms left me with vast prana reserves and my new abilities allow me to harvest prana from anywhere…watch."

Dark Sakura's tentacles lashed out enveloping one of the old snack stands rapidly dissolving it pure energy which the tentacles absorbed.

"I have so many other abilities, but I won't showcase them all now. Once I am done with you two I will take my rightful place as Lelouch's queen and if that bitch Kotonoha gets in my way I'll use Rider and my new servant to deal with her."

"Your new servant?" Rin asked as she was trembling where she stood.

"That's right…the SAME servant used by Kariya Matou, the only man who ever truly cared for me and ONLY fought in the previous grail war for my sake. As far as I am concerned Kariya is my father and the only true parent I knew, but now behold…True Berserker!"

An eruption of dark power exploded from the ground a few yards ahead of Dark Sakura in the center of the distance between her and Rin. Having been in a knelling position the tall servant began to stand up. The imposing dark figure was dressed in old, but fearsome looking armor with glowing red eye holes and blood red runes upon his body. Lancelot let out a bone-chilling roar as the tassels on his armor lashed about like living creatures, but unlike the Lancelot Kariya had summoned the one Sakura commanded now obeyed her commands perfectly and with her vast prana reserves she had no difficulty whatsoever in maintaining control over Berserker as well as maintaining his existence along with Rider's.

"It's Lancelot!" Saber declared while a horrified look quickly replaced the neutral expression she had on her face moments ago. Drawing her sword the former king began trying to cut through the barrier, but it held against the Servant's powerful blow.

Within the Amusement Park Rin and Archer were facing down Lancelot, but unlike the difficult to control Berserker Kariya had trouble with the one Sakura had was easy for her to control, but watching through a combination of the palantir and her own magical seeing powers, Medea was watching events from the throne room at Minas Morgul. Medea was deeply concerned as she had caught what Dark Sakura had said before relaying her concern to Lelouch who was at Shinjuku Ghetto.

"Master, remember what I told you about Sakura?"

_I know…I sensed her intent through the ring she carries on her finger. _

* * *

><p>In an opening with destroyed cars and the remains of a few buildings stood the Dark Lord while lying defeated on the ground was the Queen of the Clock Tower, Barthomeloi Lorelei, had been defeated by the Dark Lord despite her efforts. She had no chance of winning and the fight against Lelouch as the Dark Lord looked down at her. Surprisingly despite the intense battle Lorelei had come out of it for the most part unharmed aside from perhaps her ponytail coming undone and her clothing suffering damage that consisted of some cuts and the left sleeve getting torn off.<p>

He could have ended the fight sooner, but he allowed her to attempt to strike him waiting for the hopelessness of her situation to sink in. Unfortunately it never did forcing the Dark Lord to defeat her decisively leaving the young woman with her pride in tatters.

"I almost feel bad for having to crush you as I did," Lelouch mused with a smile before picking up the unconscious woman.

_Right now I have more pressing concerns. _

If Sakura was serious then he will be expecting a bloodbath on his hands, which between Kotonoha and Sakura it would be very bloody. Kotonoha had the advantage in speed and skill with a weapon as well as songs of power she could sing, but Sakura had a considerable advantage in terms of raw power and her ability to use ancient spell craft with some magecraft made her a walking magical powerhouse. Her Dark Sakura form was even more dangerous and given the fact she commands Rider and Berserker there was a higher chance that Sakura could end up killing Kotonoha or the two could even end up killing one another.

Either way bloodshed was something the Dark Lord wants to avoid and he couldn't afford infighting among his own ranks, but Lelouch asked himself.

_What do I do…to reject one would cause the other to kill the one I accept._

Then Medea's words from their previous conversation came to mind.

_Somehow I doubt they would go along with it, but damn it what chose do I have?_

Lelouch looked up at the sky for a moment before mockingly musing to himself.

"So Eru is this some idea of a joke or does fate just love doing this to me?"

* * *

><p>AN: Well Sakura and Rin are having their inevitable showdown, but now Lelouch is faced with a dangerous choice. Rejecting Sakura or Kotonoha could have some terrible repercussions, but would they allow themselves to be both accepted by Lelouch as Queens. Lelouch has defeated one of the Mage Association most powerful magi and captured her while another from the Atlas organization has been taken captive as well. I only did the battle between Lorelei and Lelouch as I did due to a lack of full knowledge of her abilities sadly. Who is Arcueid trying to contact? Find out next chapter and don't forget to vote. Thank you in advance for the reviews and enjoy this special omake which should fit the problem Lelouch is facing appropriately. Takes place following episode 12 of the OVA Carnival Phantasm.

* * *

><p>****Omake Special****<p>

Sitting at a table in the Ahnenerbe the mysterious and yet strangely famous establishment that according to rumors acts as a place where people from different worlds and different timelines could meet. They also serve some of the finest curry known in the world among other dishes, but the focus of our tale is three men who are enjoying a nice lunch. Seated at one of these tables sat a very large muscular man with short red hair with a chinstrap beard with a good tan wearing a white T-shirt and blue jeans.

"Excuse me sir, but do you mind sharing a table with another customer we're running short on available tables and chairs." Neko-Arc asked holding a menu in his hand.

"Not at all, my master is elsewhere so a little company might be welcomed." Rider, from Fate/Zero, otherwise known by his real name Iskandar replied with a heartily laugh. "By the way where are my ribs?"

"They'll be coming soon…HEY hurry up with those ribs!" Neko-Arc shouted as another cat-like creature that looked identical to Neko-Arc poked his head out from the kitchen. The Neko-Arc Bubbles nodded its head quickly replying with some babbling.

"Uh-uh-uh"

After setting up two chairs two young boys around their late teens in a literal sense dragged themselves to the table. One of them was Shirou Emiya while the other was Shiki Tohno; both boys looked as if they had just barely returned from a great battle of some kind as it was clear both teenagers barely had the strength to stand.

"My word what happened to you two? You two look as if you just walked off a battlefield." Rider commented before laughing. "You two definitely need a rest that's for certain."

"Thank you sir…" Shirou managed weakly.

"What happened to you boys?"

"Well you were right we did come off a battlefield, the battlefield of love."

"Oh," Rider asked raising an eyebrow. The man was still waiting on his ribs so a little chatting to take his mind off his hunger.

"We knew a number of different women, but we all had dates with them on the same day."

"How many?" Iskandar asked.

"Well Shirou had four interested in him, but I got six women." Shiki answered.

"You two must be real players." Rider commented laughing but the boy's moods went down further.

"Don't mention players, Arcueid called me that before she and Shirou's girlfriend Saber both attacked us with their strongest attacks." Shiki said as he shuddered as he remembered Saber and Arcueid using their most powerful attacks in their arsenal to _punish _Shiki and Shirou.

"Saber, the little girl with a sword?" Iskandar asked.

"Yes that's her you know her?"

Iskandar was thoughtful for a moment.

"Just a little girl, but now boys if I were you I what I would have done is…" Rider began as Shirou and Shiki looked upon him like a sage about to tell them the secret of life, but his ribs arrived. "FINALLY!" Shiki and Shirou were saddened and their mood was worse than it was. Iskandar having been famished wasted no time munching away at his ribs.

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><p>(AN: Ok that wasn't as good as an omake as I hope, but if you want something funny watch Carnival Phantasm. Thanks in advance for the reviews.)


	13. Chapter 13 The Game is Changing

A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and for voting, so here with the next chapter without further delay to make up for how late the last one was. Also I made some adjustments to chapters 8 and 9 in light of the scene I made at the start of this chapter, but otherwise enjoy.

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><p>Chapter 13<p>

The Game is Changing

Across the amusement park inside the interior of an old warehouse that had been abandoned for years. Nothing really lived there except for rats and cockroaches and other insects that had made their home within the rotting and decaying structure. But this night it was the temporary base of a single woman who sat alone in the darkened office of the building's last owners. Sitting in a corner of the office with the only light source coming in through the windows as a combination of moonlight and the lights from the amusement park was Fujino.

Her breathing was raged while there were beads of sweat upon her head with her cheeks flushed red. The sounds of combat from across the way echoed in her ears. Fujino laid there with her back against the wall and her arms lying limp beside her while legs were parted suggesting she had likely just leaned against the wall and slid to the ground lazily.

However at this moment the woman was completely lost in her own world as her eyes weren't even focused on the now before her, but her mind's eye was active as she remembered an event from seven months ago. She was in the same cursed place once more as the members of the same gang encircled her like vultures before her clothes were ripped and her body exposed to their predatory eyes. It something that had happened to the point that it was seemingly frequent to the point it was disturbingly natural, but each time it happened she felt nothing. Throughout her life for as long as she could remember she was incapable of feeling pain due to an overdose of medication her stepfather had forced upon her to surpass the telekinetic abilities she inherited from her father Hanefune Asakami.

No one did anything and no one cared about what she was put through, her parents, her co-called friends, no one at all.

Until one day after head was slammed onto the ground a feeling of sensations she was experiencing for the first time and it was terribly painful, but then she felt something else that was new yet alien to her. Fujino remembered it easily, chills creeping up her spine and the world around her growing cold as _they _came.

_The Dark Lord Lelouch entered the room and beheld the sight before him, ten gang members obviously consisting of punk school kids surrounding a helpless woman who had her clothes or at least most of them torn from her form. What was happening was plainly obvious and it caused a surge of anger to erupt within him. Fujino watched as the Dark Lord moved into the room with the grace, but carried with him the ferocity of a hurricane as the black cape attached to his polished dark armor added to his imagine which Fujino beheld to be beautiful. _

_Almost watching a slow waltz Fujino watched as the Dark Lord conjured his infamous mace as he bashed one across the head. The hit carried such force that upon impact the man's head exploded, but before the others could react the Witch King of Angmar entered with sword drawn as he ran his blade through the heart of one of the gang members. _

_It had originally happened quickly, but Fujino watched these events replay in her mind's eye in slow motion as the Witch King and his Master slaughtered the gang members one by one, but by the time the two had slain a combine total of five out of ten. One of them desperate pulled Fujino up by the hair intending to use her as a hostage and a human shield. Something happened in that instance as she thought about the man's head exploding in the same way Lelouch had struck down his first victim before what she had envisioned suddenly happened to the man as his head exploded. _

_Fujino's eyes for the first time changed from their natural amethyst color to black with red-green pupils. _

_Her Mystic Eyes of Distortion had awakened and seemingly on a mix of impulse and instinct the woman quickly killed the rest of the gang members in a similar gruesome manner, but the sudden display of power from the woman prompted the Witch King and Lelouch to turn their attention. Fujino was trembling terribly at dead bodies, but yet she felt a surge of pleasure wash through her. The Witch King's aura of terror was also seemingly having the opposite effect on her. _

_For the first time she was experiencing real sensations._

"_Impressive," The Witch King commented as he had never beheld anyone with such abilities. _

_Without a word Lelouch used magic to create a black cloth as he covered Fujino's body with it. She remembered the feel of his armored hands on her shoulder and how he took her away afterwards and began helping her understand and use her new powers to their fullest while treating her for sickness and weakness she began to experience afterwards. _

Yet lately Fujino hasn't been satisfied. She wants more…more of Lelouch the Dark Lord and the master of the Nazgul who has the command of the Witch King. She thought of him often until she began to fantasize of him. She felt close to the Nazgul preferring their company over humans as the terror and fear their auras brought to other creatures, but for her…it was opposite. But rumors of his romantic involvement with Kotonoha however crushed those dreams of closer intimacy with the Dark Lord; however this night offered an opportunity for her to eliminate those who sought the Dark Lord's affection.

She knew Kotonoha was nearby waiting for what she assumed to be an opportunity to attack Sakura to remove her as a danger to her position as Lelouch's queen, but neither one of them realized that Fujino wished for the position of Queen herself. At last pulling herself to her feet the young woman undressed herself until she was face to face with her naked self. Although her body was clean with not a single scar or imperfection upon it she felt terribly inferior.

Why, because she had been violated…her innocence taken.

Another reason she lost her affection for humans was because those gang members stole her purity feeling it was the reason why the Dark Lord would take her as a queen. In her reasoning she believed she had to prove her worth to him in another way. Turning around Fujino walked over to a rusty old desk and opened up a large duffle bag she had dragged from Minas Morgul and here. She began changing, but instead of donning her civilian attire again she donned a familiar set of black robes with silver mail armor she had asked the smith workers at the castle to adapt to her size.

A few minutes later after changing into the robes and donning the armor that had belonged to the Witch King of Angmar before he received his new robes and armor from Lelouch leaving his old armor to rust until Fujino claimed them for herself. Completing the set she armed herself with a Morgul Blade and the Witch King's old sword. She was pleased with her appearance after throwing the hood over her head as she felt…she was among the ranks of the Nazgul almost like one of their own. Seeing herself dressed as the Witch King brought a sense of pride and comfort about Fujino's flaws.

"I feel a little better now…he must be proud of me I'll make him proud so he'll want me despite my impurity."

_What are you doing there Fujino?_

"My lord," Fujino said joyfully hearing Lelouch's voice in her mind.

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><p>Archer dodged a swing from True Berserker's weapon as the former knight was using a broken piece of wood taken from one of the remaining food stands, but thanks to Lancelot's Knight of Honor to convert it into a noble phantasm that he could wield against his foe. Lancelot's second noble phantasm Noble Phantasm For Someone's Glory was also obviously in effect as the knight's body was shrouded in a dark fog giving him something close to an alien like appearance. Archer used his two blades Kanshou &amp; Bakuya to battle the Berserker, but Lancelot was proving more of a challenge than Hercules was.<p>

Worst yet, Lancelot was a natural opposite to Archer whose ability to use noble phantasms as projectile weapons that had been Archer's strength was now proving to be his greatest disadvantage as Lancelot seized any weapon hurled at it before using it against Archer forcing the Servant on the defensive with the battle likely to get worse for him the longer it drags on.

Opposite of Archer's performance against True Berserker, Rin lost the will to fight. Despite the possible of her mother's life on the line she couldn't bring herself to attack Sakura. Dark Sakura on the other hand had no such hesitation and much to the horror of Aoi the white haired woman laughed gleefully as she grabbed Rin with one of her tentacles and began tossing her around like a rag doll. There were moments when Dark Sakura used her staff to deal out invisible sucker punches to Rin knocking her off her feet.

Outside the barrier both Saber and Gandalf were working to break through the barrier.

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><p>After making his quick pit stop at Minas Morgul; Lelouch had deposited Lorelei in a specially built cell to contain her until she wakens and the Dark Lord could deal with her. On his way out Medea intercepted him wishing to accompany him on his trip to conduct damage control. As they two hurried out to the balcony to make their way to the amusement park.<p>

"I better accompany you…once this is over your relationship matters need to be settled."

"I am aware of that Medea, but let's deal with one problem at a time."

"Speaking of which I thought you should know something else, Kotonoha is missing."

A look of concern appeared on Lelouch's face before saying.

"I know already, which is why we must double time it!"

The two left the castle hurrying to the amusement park to be on hand for what happens next.

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><p>Back at the amusement park Nienna stepped in as she used her own power in conjunction with Gandalf's to break through the magical field allowing them to enter the amusement park. Archer was holding his own still if not barely, but he was unable to break away from True Berserker to help his master as the towering knight kept coming and coming. Saber quickly came to Archer's aid as the two fought True Berserker together pushing the fierce warrior back.<p>

Meanwhile Rin was on the ground bruised and beaten with Aoi screaming for Sakura to stop it while the white haired Princess of the Nazgul slowly approached her fallen sister after having beaten her senseless using her abilities while Rin offered no resistance. Why, because she couldn't bring herself to harm her sister.

Even if she was likely to get killed by Dark Sakura she just couldn't do it.

Rin rose back up to her feet glancing one look at their tearful mother who couldn't stand watching her two daughters fight, so the young Tohsaka Heiress decided to go on the defensive and try to hold out until either Sakura was worn down or until Archer and Saber could back her up and maybe push Sakura into submission without actually having to harm her.

Using the spell Gandr, Rin fired off projectiles not aimed at Sakura herself, but close enough to her that the black haired girl hoped she would back off. Unfortunately Dark Sakura was undaunted by this and instead to Rin's horror the tentacles around her were raised as similar, but larger spheres of energy to a multiple-shot Gandr spell was being unleashed forcing Rin to begin rapidly dodging and evading Sakura's assault. The machine rapid fire of black spheres which could shatter stone upon impact forced Rin take cover behind a row of game booth.

Dark Sakura began laughing manically as she shouted.

"Nothing you throw at me will be good enough. You are not better than me; you got everything handed to you while I suffered. I am stronger and smarter than you and I even got bigger breasts than you."

The last part of that remark actually hit something of an unexpected sore spot with Rin, but it wasn't enough to push her into attacking her sister. She had some gems stored with prana she could use, but she hesitated not wishing to actually harm her sister. But unable to fight back it was only a matter of time before one of Sakura's tentacles came around from behind seizing Rin by the leg and throwing her into the air right before slamming her into an old game booth.

Rin tried to get up, but that last blow knocked the wind out of her. Before she could get to her knees Sakura was upon her as one tentacle delivered a swift blow to the stomach knocking Rin across the ground before she was picked up again and thrown through the air landing on the ground roughly. On the ground beaten and battered Sakura stood over Rin ready to finish her off.

Dark Sakura could easily finish Rin off, but after raising her staff up to deliver a finishing blow. However at that moment Sakura froze as she couldn't compel her arm to deliver the final blow which would end Rin's life. No matter how much she wanted to the young woman couldn't do it, she just couldn't kill Rin despite despising her so much.

"Sakura don't do it!" Shirou shouted approaching the two with Gandalf following closely behind her.

"Stand down both of you, do you honesty want to kill your own sister?"

Sakura stood there motionless as one part of her wanted to kill Rin, but the other part was preventing her from dealing a finishing blow.

"Sakura," spoke a third and unexpected voice as Kotonoha appeared on the scene with a sympathetic expression upon her face. Stabbing her sword into the ground Kotonoha began to sing a sad melody, a special song of power that began to link Rin and Aoi's minds allowing them to experience Sakura's memories of her times among the Matou Family. The horror of the implantations and experiments she endured at the hands of Zouken and the physical and emotional abuse she suffered daily at the hands of Shinji until Lelouch stopped it, but Kariya was the only person who did his best to protect her and took part in the grail war only for Sakura's sake so that he could save her from the hellish life she had been forced to live.

It was a greater blow to both Rin and Aoi than any could have expected as they both experienced what Sakura endured both physically and psychologically, but Sakura was experiencing Kotonoha's memories as was the latter experiencing Sakura's memories as well. During the song Kotonoha and Sakura met in an empty void-like space where the two women could share a private conversation.

"Lelouch cares for you Sakura, but you have to remember most men are sometimes obvious to the feelings of women," Kotonoha said with chuckle before putting one hand on the young woman's shoulder.

"I guess, but I loved him for so long."

"And he didn't notice…isn't that what always happens."

Sakura sighed before nodding her head, but Kotonoha suggested.

"You know we could just share him."

"HUH?" For once that suggestion took Sakura back as it was the very last thing she had expected from her. The suggestion itself caused the white haired woman's mental processes to come to a sudden halt as the Sakura O.S. needed time reboot.

"I have been talking to Caster-chan and I know the best way to solve this problem is to just share him. He is a Dark Lord and a powerful and immortal being so why not?"

Sakura for once in her life was completely dumbfounded by the suggestion and offered no reply except that her cheeks had turned bright red.

Back in the real world the song ended as Rin was in tears as she fully comprehended what Sakura had endured until Lelouch had saved while Aoi herself had been completely reduced to tears realizing that Kariya had been more of a father to Sakura than anyone. In fact the revelation hurt Aoi Tohsaka a lot more knowing that because of what she suffered Sakura would probably see her as her mother ever again because of it. Although Gandalf wasn't caught in the spell as was Shirou he knew what had likely happened, but right now he was curious to the identity of the black haired woman who had used such a song of power. For White Wizard to see a human, that can grasp the essence of Song Sorcery and use it so well was a clear sign of a soul that has acquired an understanding of existence beyond the evident. To use Song Sorcery, is to understand the essence, the melody of existence on a level, and to be capable of doing that, not even during the bygone days of past ages, there was never a human capable of grasping this sorcery.

Until now at least…

Suddenly the Dark Lord arrived in a hurry as a gray smoke dragon landed nearby before dispersing to reveal the Dark Lord and his servant Caster. Although Lelouch was still he was mentally relieved that Kotonoha and Sakura weren't killing each other, but he had been more concerned for Fujino who was MORE likely to attempt to kill them. Speaking of whom, the woman with the terrifying mystical eyes joined her dark master at his side along with Caster as Fujino was waiting patiently for instructions.

Fortunately he managed to placate the woman, but like Sakura she was another he had to attend to once they reached the castle. For right now the Dark Lord was on damage control and he had to make sure things didn't turn violent. With Saber, Archer, Shirou, Gandalf, Legolas and Nienna present it was a dangerous possibility.

"I am surprised you would run off like that Sakura. Rin and Archer have allies who, despite your powers, could not have hoped to fight them all and win."

"I am sorry Lelouch-sama."

"Its fine Sakura, but just don't rush off without escort. After all there is a Holy Grail war in progress."

True Berserker was recalled leaving a battered Archer with Saber helping him up while Shirou hurried to Rin's side to tend to her.

"I suppose this was inevitable especially with the war coming, but it is why I faced Rin those many times."

"What?" Gandalf inquired as Lelouch began to say.

"Because Sakura enjoyed to see me defeat Rin, because it made her remember to be human and to not be like Tokiomi, a man so obsessed with the image and reputation, and the pursuit of an absurd ideal, even how he carelessly threw his own daughter aside, all in the name of his beliefs as a Magus."

Without out another word after Sakura reverted back to normal she hurried to Lelouch and hugged him with the Dark Lord returning the show of affection. Gandalf was surprised and wasn't sure to determine it was some form of deception or what, but even so he couldn't tell. There was no doubt what he was seeing was a different Dark Lord from previous times he had been around during their appearance and reign.

"Anyway I wish for no further violence so we'll take out leave of you all," Lelouch said as Caster used a spell of teleportation to whisk Sakura, Medusa, Lelouch, Fujino as well as Medea herself back to Minas Morgul.

"Wait," Nienna called out, but they were already gone leaving Gandalf, Nienna and Legolas to help Shirou with their own damage control as they had a grieving Aoi and an injured and easily emotionally crushed Rin to take care of.

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><p>Back at Minas Morgul, Lelouch had helped Sakura to her room as the girl was lying down on the bed with Lelouch sitting on the corner of her bed letting the poor woman vent her emotions while Fujino stood at the door while Kotonoha also sat on a corner of the bed near Lelouch while showing her own support for her new <em>sister. <em>After moments of quiet sobbing Sakura fell asleep and Lelouch and Kotonoha quietly removed themselves from the room. Although Sakura had won the battle, but on the inside she wasn't exactly ok. She he accomplished what she wanted, but Sakura was emotional right now and the Dark Lord didn't need his powers to realize that. It was best that Sakura is given some space and once she was asleep Kotonoha and Lelouch left the room quietly, but outside Fujino was waiting for them.

"Fujino we need to talk…I want to apologize and say that I was never aware that you held me in such, high regard," Lelouch began using those last words very carefully.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, but I don't feel I am worthy of you. I am…I am…dirty, I was defied so I can't…" Fujino said on the verge of breaking down in tears, but suddenly to Lelouch's surprise Kotonoha stepped in and pulled Fujino aside to have a talk with the crying girl. The Dark Lord wanted to read their minds to listen in, but he held back out of privacy although he felt strongly tempted to poke his nose in what they were discussing.

Because whatever it was made Fujino stop crying, but left her face redder than a lobster with Kotonoha chuckling.

Fujino was calmer, but she was now obviously extremely nervous and embarrassed about something while Kotonoha was smiling as she led Lelouch and Fujino to a familiar room…his. Lelouch and Fujino aimlessly walked in, but before they realized it Kotonoha closed the door and locked them in saying.

"You two please enjoy your privacy and Lelouch be nice…please remember our talk Fujino-chan."

In Fujino's brain little Fujino suddenly realized the potentially dangerous implications of what was happening as her inter mental self suddenly hit the alarm button before Fujino herself began to panic before struggling to open the door. She could have used her powers, but then that would damage the castle and possibly displease her lord. Suddenly Lelouch came from behind and embraced her in a hug trying to calm her down.

"Fujino…I know what you and Kotonoha were talking about, sorry but I poked in her mind and found out the subject." Lelouch began as Fujino was shivering as one part of her wanted to escape Lelouch's embrace while the other wanted to stay. "I am not sure where to begin honesty…I never once expected this to happen, but I can't ignore it either."

"I…I love you…I do," Fujino began as she tried to compose herself as she explained. "That first time I saw you…you were so dark and beautiful. I wanted to do nothing more than to be with you. My own parents shoved medications down my throat to suppress powers I was born with that I never asked, but I lost my sense of pain. I could feel things, but not very much…I didn't feel alive. Even when those gang members…hurt me…I still didn't feel anything, but now ever since you helped me and allowed me to feel real sensations I feel more alive now. But I want more, but you are already with someone else. No matter what I tell myself I just can't accept it, but I feel you don't deserve me because I am not pure."

Lelouch regarded the trembling young woman for a minute and there was no doubt she was a mental mess thanks to her upbringing and abuse she had endured in the later years of her life. Fujino began crying again at her own perceived imperfections and Lelouch was aware of what Kotonoha was intending, but he was making a mental note to have a definite word with Caster when time allowed it.

Turning Fujino around so that the young woman was facing him the Dark Lord did something the woman didn't see coming a mile away, he brought her close and captured her lips in a kiss. Fujino's eyes went wide, but she didn't fight him as her mind went to gooey mushy land forgetting everything else in that instance. Moments of feeling Lelouch's tongue explore her moist mouth and mingle with her own tongue the Dark Lord ended the kiss leaving a dazed Fujino looking at him.

She had stopped trembling at least.

"I am sorry I ignored what you felt, but it's clear both you and Kotonoha and likely Sakura as well are…interested in me," Lelouch said once again using those last three words very carefully before adding. "I am not pure myself Fujino, so I think that makes us even, but…"

Lelouch allowed his sentence to trail off as he looked into Fujino's eyes. It was plainly obvious that Fujino Asagami was, to put it bluntly, pretty messed up mentally. Taking into account all she had endured and how her parents obviously regarded her it would be impossible for Fujino to live a normal life outside of this castle even before meeting her where she would have either gone on a murder spree or remained an object of terrible abuse. Her eyes held a look that begged Lelouch for acceptance and love, grasping for something love and true acceptance that no one else in the world may very well be unable to provide her with, save for him maybe.

To Fujino the Dark Lord Lelouch was more than a man he was her idol and someone worthy of worship from her alone.

_What I am going to do next is either going to be very stupid, wrong on a lot of levels or both. _

Lelouch thought, but seeing that Fujino wanted Lelouch regardless made the Dark Lord finally concede as a sigh escaped his lips.

_I am having a word with you Caster after this. _

Without further hesitation Lelouch captured Fujino's lips in a passionate kiss much to the young woman's delight as she this time around returned it much more eagerly.

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><p>Later that night after returning to the Emiya Estate, Gandalf and Shirou were talking in the dining room together after Rin had been attended to as the young magus was recovering. She was sleeping in one of the guest rooms recovering from her injuries with her mother present over her while Archer was also working on recovering from his fight against True Berserker. Saber was also resting to recover the strength she had used while helping Archer out, so besides Gandalf and Shirou there was Legolas. Nienna on the other hand had gone into Shirou's shed and decided to communicate with the other kings and queens of the Valar to keep them posted on the situation.<p>

"I can't believe this is happening, if Sakura has a new Berserker servant that means Ilya and her servant was defeated."

"Likely we're next, but you mentioned seven servants correct?" Gandalf inquired before Shirou nodded as he added.

"Yeah…now that you mention it we have seen all of the other classes but the Lancer class servant."

"We can either assume one of the Dark Lord's servants has summoned him and remained hidden or someone else has and they have yet to involve themselves in this grail war."

"Speaking of whom what are we going to do about him?"

"I am not sure that is what Nienna is finding out right now, but…"

"Given what Britannia has done you aren't sure about stopping the Dark Lord."

Gandalf knew he was right, but he didn't want to admit through.

"I am not sure of the Dark Lord's ultimate intention for this world, but I don't approve of what this country Britannia has been doing."

"I agree with you, but I don't know if waging all out war against them is really going to help in the end. War brings nothing but death, but it also brings out the worst in people."

"You're right young man." Gandalf admitted while Legolas said nothing, but his expression suggested he was in agreement with the two.

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><p>Meanwhile in the Undying Lands, but more specifically within the halls of the meeting chambers that sat within the heart of Valmar or known by the populace as the city of bells that laid in the heart of Valinor where many of the Valar and Maiar dwelt acting as their capital. The city laid in the Girdle of Arda located in the east-central part of the Plains of Valinor, west of Taniquetil. Seated upon their thrones at the Mahanaxar, the Ring of Doom, the ruling powers the seven Kings of the Valar and present upon their own thrones were the six Queens of the Valar.<p>

At the heart of the room the transparent image of Nienna was before them as she was briefing them on the situation in Japan, although some of them were surprised that the Lady of Mercy would go to Japan still they pushed aside their initial thoughts to focus on the more concerning issues. One of them was confirmation that the Dark Lord Sauron had arisen once more, but this time as a human being who was gradually transforming into an Ainur.

Sitting at the head of this gathering was the King of the Valar; he had long silky black hair and features suited to a wise king wearing blue and red regal robes and blue eyes. Manwe Sulimo, the Elder King sat quietly listening to Nienna give her report on the situation.

"Thus far we have observed Sauron, but we know now that he was reborn through a human being originally born Lelouch vi Britannia, former prince of the Britannian Empire. From what information Gandalf and I have found it seemed that Lelouch was disowned and cast out from the royal family sent to Japan as a political hostage along with his sister Nunnally. It happened following the demise of their mother at the hands of assassins and Lelouch was disowned when he spoke out against his father on the matter. His sister was left blind and crippled as a result of the incident, but after that we know nothing else of what happened. But we can assume at some point afterwards Lelouch awoke as Sauron, which would match the feeling Gandalf and others possessing one of the three Elven rings felt seven years ago."

"Thank you Nienna, but having encountered Sauron is the young man being controlled?" Manwe said gesturing for the woman to continue.

"Nothing of the short my lord, but what has happened is that the individuals once known as Lelouch vi Britannia and Sauron have merged into a new and complete entity composed of both beings, Lelouch in a sense makes up one half of this _new _Dark Lord we have seen."

"I see…"

"Thus far he has acted on what is likely revenge against Britannia as the Witch King of Angmar has been leading a growing resistance army against the Britannia Occupation. He has also been taking part in an event known as the Holy Grail war where the victor would be granted a wish from an artifact known as the Holy Grail."

"Thank you Nienna for your report, continue to keep us apprised of the situation."

"Yes my lord, but there is one more fact I am hesitant to reveal."

"Do not fear Nienna…if it is important than tell us."

The Queen was clearly hesitant, but nevertheless this information had to be known.

"According to Sauron he was reborn in such a matter by Eru himself and given the task of destroying the Britannian Empire before they enact a plan in which they claim could unmake Eru."

A terrible silence and horrifying shock swept across the room, some wanted to deny such a possibility however they all knew the only way Sauron and Ring of Power could have returned to the world would have ONLY been possible by the will of Eru himself. Combined with this revelation that Britannian sought to kill the creator only strengthened the claim made by Sauron had seemingly convinced everyone present of what was happening and why, although no one wished to believe it.

And who couldn't blame them?

After Nienna was dismissed an explosion of heated discussion broke out among the Kings and Queen as some were quiet vocal while others were talking to the Valar seated next to him. The most beautiful and powerful of the Queens, Varda whose beauty defied all powers of explanation, as her long hair glittered like the stars she held dominion over while her pale white dress radiated her beauty even further to heaven defying levels. Varda observed her husband as he was quiet as the storm of discussion unfolded before him, but she understood his intent of letting his fellow King and the Queens talk among themselves giving them a chance to voice their opinions.

If Manwe was to speak now then the conversation would move in one direction.

The heated debate among the Valar lasted for a good twenty minutes, but after hearing enough Manwe rose raising his hands bidding his fellows to be silent so that he could speak.

"I have listened and weighed all of your opinions and suggestions regarding this matter with the upmost care. I agree this is something we cannot turn a blind eye too and," Manwe began looking to perhaps the mightiest among them. Seated at one side of the chamber next to his wife was a man of solid muscle dressed in gold armor similar to that a gladiator with ruddy flesh and long golden hair and a full beard with blue eyes. "All out war with Britannia is extreme, but…we will not ignore this matter. We need to know how exactly they intend to slay Eru and if they have such a weapon we must know where it is being kept."

The man in gold armor stood up.

"I mean no disrespect Manwe, but can we really afford caution when the life of Eru along with that of our own lives and this world are on the line?" Tulkas spoke; he was the most war-like among the Valar. However he was their champion whose strength in battle knew no equal to such that even the Dark Lord Morgoth fled before his might. Being a good councilor wasn't exactly a strong suit for the Ainur and neither was patience, but no one could find a more hardy friend that the Champion of the Valar.

"I know Tulkas and I am not ignoring your concerns…I don't doubt we may have to take arms against Britannia, but we need find out what Sauron knows."

"Can the Deceiver be trusted?" Ulmo spoke as the King of the Seas voice his own concerns about this matter.

His presence was rare as he spent most if not all of his time in the seas around Valinor and very rarely came to council gatherings such as these, but the silence of Eru prompted an appearance as he sat upon his throne with his wife besides him dressed in glittering green armor and possessing long black hair and dark blue eyes.

"He has as much to lose as the rest of us, so lying to use would not be in his best interest and if he is acting under the will of Eru then we should give him an opportunity to speak for himself." Manwe replied before adding. "I intend on sending one of you to Fuyuki City to establish contact with Sauron, so I ask you…which of you shall volunteer for this task?"

* * *

><p>At the Tokyo Settlement, more specifically at the Forward Military Base and Command Center for the Britannian Air force in the Tokyo Area Jeremiah Gottwald felt the entire world had gone to hell in a hand basket before him. Not even forty eight hours had passed since the disaster at Shinjuku Ghetto and the destruction of military HQ which had for all extensive purposes crippled the command structure of Area 11 causing terrorist attacks on Britannian military and government facilities to be at an all time high.<p>

Jeremiah Gottwald sat at the desk in what was serving as his temporary office while dealing with reports coming in from all over Area 11 as word of attacks on Britannian Military and Government targets were pouring in. The leader of the Purist Faction was clearly tired out as he appeared ready to drop at any moment, but on her will power alone he pushed himself to keep working and trying to contain the chaos that was spreading across Area 11 like wildfire.

"It's almost like they had been likely planning this attack with other terrorist cells and groups from who knows how long, the attack of Prince Clovis upon the Ghetto likely only gave them a more ideal excuse and moment to realize it." Jeremiah said to himself in an effort to stay awake.

Everything happen was a catastrophic domino effect, in fact it was amazing the situation wasn't a lot worse than it was now, but all in all the Britannia Occupation Force had lost four military facilities since the loss of their headquarters and ten government buildings had also come under attack from other resistance groups including the Japan Liberation Front. There were also confirmed raids being made on military supply depots by the JLF and likely the forces loyal to the mysterious Witch King.

The world was aware of the death of Prince Clovis and in light of his demise and the chaos spreading unchecked they were sending Princess Cornelia li Britannia to Area 11 while at the same time the homeland was also dispatching additional troops to provide both reinforcement to the weakened military of Area 11 and to restore order. Even so the damage inflicted upon Area 11 now would last for many months to come, maybe even years. The seemingly sheer coincidence of the other terrorist groups synchronizing their strike all around Area 11 following the Witch King's lead was almost hard to believe, but the reports piled high on his desk were a clear sign of it being true.

The situation was so bad right now he was forced to even accept the use of the ASEEC Z-01 Lancelot and its Honorary Britannian pilot to help protect the base from attacks from terrorist groups.

The past few days have been among the worst for Margrave Jeremiah since the day Lady Marianne was killed.

* * *

><p>The following morning at the city of Misaki, Arcueid was waking up to the sound of knocking on the door of the guest room that was given to her. A groggy and obviously tired True Ancestor dragged herself out of bed and made her way to the door where on the other side was Hisui.<p>

"Miss Brunestud you have a guest waiting for you downstairs."

"Huh," Arcueid began now wide awake.

"Downstairs you said?"

Hisui nodded before the True Ancestor was gone like a flash racing down the stairs to the living room where Arcueid saw someone she wasn't expecting, but it was likely someone she was going to have to make do with as the man sitting on the sofa with the binds closed had gray hair and a beard that extended across his chin dressed in a black suit with a cape and a cane. His skin was pale and he had red eyes, but despite this he was surprisingly good natured, as much as he could be of course.

"It's been a long time little Arc."

"Old man Zelretch," The True Ancestor said recognizing the infamous Kischur Zelretch Schweinorg, the man known as the wizard marshal and one of the key founders of the Holy Grail Wars in Fuyuki City.

"Heh I am not that old you know," Zelretch mused. "But your message did get through, but unfortunately good old Tom can't be here right now."

"Something wrong?"

"I am not sure how to explain it, but let's start with you. What happened that would have you try to contact Tom to meet with you?"

"Well I know you and Tom are _drinking buddies_, but I and a few others had an unusual encounter with beings we have never faced before." Arcueid began before giving the old Dead Apostle Ancestor wizard a full explanation of their encounter with the Nazgul and the Witch King including explain the weapon Ciel had been stabbed with and the effects it had on her.

"I see…did these black robed men. Did attacking them physically leave any burns or caused any kind of poisoning?"

"Yes in fact," Arcueid said as Zelretch began asking his first question after the True Ancestor had finished explaining the events that had happened that night.

"Based on what you have told me it sounds like you and your friends had a run in with…Nazgul."

"Nazgul?"

"They are called Ringwraiths; they are beings that are not really living or really dead. There were nine in all, but they were human like anyone else a very long time ago. They were kings actually, but their downfall began when the Dark Lord Sauron gave to them nine magic rings of power. Blinded by their greed they foolishly took them without question. The nine kings gained greater prestige and power thanks to their rings, but one by one they fell to darkness becoming to the Dark Lord's will. Their actual bodies exist in the shadow world, but in order for them to interact with our world the physical plane they need special robes and armor to give them shape."

"So the things we faced were Nazgul, but why hasn't anyone encountered any until now?"

"I'll tell you, but trust me there is a lot I must tell you."

* * *

><p>As the morning sun was pouring over Fuyuki City as the inhabitants of the city remained blissfully unaware of what had transpired the night before, but on the outskirts concealed from the eyes of the outside world was Minas Morgul. Lelouch lay wide away in bed having rested for a time before he was ready for the day ahead of him, but he had yet to move. Why it was because of the young woman currently sharing his bed with him.<p>

_What the hell was I thinking? _

Sleeping soundly and for possibly the first time in her life completely content was Fujino. Obviously from the bare shoulders of peaking from under the covers, not to mention the discarded clothing left around the bed was enough of a sign of what had transpired the previous night. Lelouch couldn't help but grin as for someone who was a Dark Lord he was surprised with himself that he was questioning his own actions. Nevertheless he wasn't certain if what he did was for the best or just outright bloody stupid. But he had never seen Fujino so peaceful and happy.

Lelouch gently ran his fingers across the smooth curves of Fujino's body wondering where all this would lead, but ultimately the Dark Lord decided to simply be content with the moment here and now. Kotonoha was his queen, but he had now taken Fujino as a lover. Maybe she would be a consort, but the Dark Lord felt such a title would be insulting. But Lelouch's mind shifted as he was concerned about Sakura as it was likely he would probably end up with a third consort and lover.

_Three women…I just pray no one will try to compare me to those bastards Charles and Ar-Pharazon. _

The Dark Lord let out a deep breath as Fujino began to stir and sleepily open her eyes looking at Lelouch before lifting herself off of him slightly, but enough to where her face was hovering above his.

"Good morning," Fujino said timidly as she was blushing.

"You slept well I take it." Lelouch asked returning the smile as Fujino nodded. Much to her sadness the young woman knew the Dark Lord had a busy day ahead of him so almost hesitantly she climbed out of bed picking up her discarded clothes. Lelouch himself got up and with a snap of his fingers clothes and garments were formed from the shadows around the room and materializing fully upon his body. With the Dark Lord instantly dressed in new regal robes the young man couldn't help, but sneak a look at Fujino.

The lighting in the room was much better compared to the night before as Lelouch took in and committed to memory the beautiful contours of her body.

_She easily rivals Milly. _

Lelouch thought amusingly, but when compared to mental states he felt a little more comfortable with Fujino. It wasn't that Milly was crazy it was just that the busty blonde had a very _unique_ mentality.

"Are you ok with what we did last night?" Lelouch asked cautiously.

"I regret nothing. Love or not I will gladly offer my body to you if you ask of it."

"I see," Lelouch began as he confirmed that Fujino idolized him as a god, at least to her, and even if Lelouch didn't feel affection or compassion for the young woman she wouldn't have cared. Yet he did care for Fujino's well being and after last night he wondered if he actually did love her as much as Kotonoha and maybe Sakura as well.

"If you need me to serve as a concubine then I would have no objections…I just want you."

"Fujino under no circumstances you are being called a concubine, its outright insulting. I care for you and I wouldn't have bedded you last night if I didn't."

"Oh I am sorry about that." Fujino said feeling that she was scolded, but at the same she felt a sense of pride and love build up with her. It was certainly good to know that the man she held in high regard cared for her.

"You have nothing to apologize for…I just don't want to be compared to certain men I knew. But I did mean what I said…I care for you Fujino and I don't want to hurt you let alone take advantage of you." Lelouch admitted as the words he spoke were genuine which was surprising to his own inner Dark Lord.

"Thank you, but I think we should get dressed. Don't you need to see the prisoners?" Fujino said with a warm smile while Lelouch nodded his head.

* * *

><p>Speaking of prisoners, Medea was already up and about and making her way to the castle dungeons where the four prisoners were being kept. The first thing she noticed was the sound of someone banging a cup against the bars of her cell shouting and outright annoying the other prisoners.<p>

"You should stop that as a member of the Einzbern Family shouldn't you conduct yourself more properly especially since you are a child."

"I'll show you proper conduct you old hag."

A red vein appeared on Medea's head as that struck a sore spot.

"Old hag, why I ought…" Medea began, but fortunately for Ilya's sake a strong hand on her shoulder stopped her.

"Control yourself Medea," Lelouch spoke appearing behind her dressed in black robes trimmed with gold and black with red eyes on the center of the shirt, the large collar of the sleeveless coat he wore and a large eye similar to the red eye of Sauron on his belt and hat. "I apologize if I took this long to visit, but I have had an unexpected busy schedule yesterday. I'll begin with you Miss Einzbern."

"Who are you? LET ME OUT!"

"I am sorry I can't do that since you could give away my location. I confess I am surprised you found my castle, but you were foolish in thinking you could challenge me."

"Don't sound so cocky!" Ilya snapped.

"I am not being cocky let alone arrogant I merely stating the facts."

"What are you going to do with me?"

"Actually I intend to help you Miss Einzbern, but tell me do you know what became of your mother?" Lelouch inquired with a serious look on his face. "Irisviel von Einzbern was her name if I am not mistaken?"

"What do you know about her?" Ilya asked as the subject was clearly an uncomfortable one for her.

"I know that she and your father Kiritsugu Emiya had worked together during the last Holy Grail War. I found some details in the notes and observations Zouken had of them along with their servant Saber. Judging from your attack on Shirou and your earlier comments I am guessing the Einzbern Family gave you a different version of what happened. One that favored them most likely, but do you know how the Holy Grail is formed?"

"Well I…well it happens after six servants are killed."

"But, the Einzbern homunculi dies through," Lorelei began jumping into the conversation. "It's what they do in every Holy Grail war they create the homunculus meant to be the vessel for the grail's creation. So the Einzbern master can never win the grail war let alone make a wish even if they are the last one left standing. Your mother died becoming the Holy Grail."

Ilya was shocked, but it did confirm what Lelouch had suspected. Given her age it was possible they didn't tell Ilya the details of how the grail was formed. Her mother knew, but being that Ilya regardless of her mental age was still a child in a sense after all.

"As Lady Barthomeloi said...that is what happened to your mother and it became the sole reason why your father sought to destroy the grail. You are going to suffer the same fate your mother suffered and her lost is what caused your father to want to destroy the grail because it sacrifices too much for what it gives."

Ilya was obviously shell shocked from the revelation, but she knew it was true because as Berserker died she could feel energy entering her body.

"But…"

"I suspect wishing that you wouldn't suffer your mother's fate was possibly another reason your father wanted to destroy the grail." Lelouch added as Ilya was left trembling as the truth of the Dark Lord's words sunk in.

_I better let her have time to process all this…I did lay it on pretty heavy. _

Lelouch thought as he decided to leave Ilya as she was for now before moving onto Barthomeloi Lorelei and Sion Eltnam Atlasia. Eyeing Lorelei's condition taking notice of her lost sleeve Lelouch closed his eyes before the damage to Lorelei's clothing was magically repaired in an instant.

"I do apologize if I was _rough _with you, but I doubt you would have come to this castle willingly. Have no fear I don't intend to harm you unless you give me cause to."

"Why exactly did you bring me here?"

"I will be revealing that shortly, but I have no real quarrel with the Mage Association. But before I decide to let you out I needed you to be fully aware of the power I wield."

"I see," Lorelei began instantly understand the true intent of Lelouch's actions during their fight. "You were dodging and deflecting all of my attacks to prove that nothing I knew as a Magus could harm you and then you defeated me soundly and easily after you dragged the battle on for awhile. You wanted to make the difference in our power clear."

"Exactly," Lelouch answered with a smile.

"What about me?" Sion said interrupting the discussion which earned a glare from Lorelei.

"Yes…I know what organization you had being a part of Sion Eltnam Atlasia and yes I can read your mind as easily as I can read a book." Lelouch replied before adding to an astonished Sion. "I won't read your minds all of the time just only until I can be certain I can expect no foolhardy attempts to attack me or escape. Although I am concerned you two might kill each other…I am well aware of your _feelings _towards vampires. I don't even need to read your mind to know that."

"You know of my family's completely irrational hatred towards vampires then?"

"Of course, but your reputation alone tells me yours is on a whole different level."

Lorelei smirked proudly before saying, "You have researched my family and my own reputation very well. I confess my own hatred is stronger than the majority of the Barthomeloi Family…even I don't understand why my own hate of them is so much stronger than theirs."

"Yes which is why for your own protection Miss Atlasia, you should remain in your cell. No harm shall befall you within my castle, besides as a member of Atlas and someone who encountered a vampire who is different from others I am interested in the information you possess. Lady Barthomeloi, you will be allowed to roam freely in this castle however I only ask of two conditions one you do not try to kill Miss Atlasia and second do not attempt to leave. There is much I intend to show you and after that I will reveal my intentions of bringing you here. Can you accept?"

"The vampire, her transformation is incomplete would be a waste of my talents to slay, but if you keep her out of my way then I will comply and not kill her. As for the second condition I will agree to it if what you intend on showing me is worth my time."

"But of course," Lelouch said as he waved his hand as the locks on Lorelei's cage became undone releasing the magus from her cell.

"What about me…I demand pizza!" C.C. demanded from her cell while Lelouch glared at the woman.

* * *

><p>Meanwhile in another corner of Japan deep underground in the remains of an old subway station located within the Shinjuku Ghetto. The remains of what was a small settlement was left behind mixed among the preexisting remains of the station, but now it was completely empty and dark. However a group of ten men belonging to the Britannian Special Forces covered in full body armor and armed with heavy machine guns.<p>

"The place looks empty sir…the Witch King and his men must have cleared out."

"Damn!"

The sound of a girl giggling could be heard in the shadows around them as the men began flashing their flashlights around the room trying to find the source. Eventually their lights settled on a young fourteen year old girl with raven black hair, pale skin and blood red eyes wearing a black dress with balloon shoulders and long sleeves that hugged her forearms leaving her hands exposed. Her appearance and dress made her look like one of those old collectable porcelain dolls, but yet she had more of a European look about her than Japanese which made the soldiers relax their guard.

"What is a little girl doing down here?"

"Little girl, who me…I am not a little girl really, but you people are dead." The girl spoke as a pair of red eyes appeared behind the soldiers before a terrible beast attacked them. Their screams filled the air which was music to the girl's ears as her servant devoured the soldiers after a futile attempt to fend off the monster attacking them.

"Eat up Primate Murder…I want to find this Witch King and meet him." Altrouge Brunestud replied with a smile on her face. Eager to meet the Witch King, but unknown to her something was directing her to come to Japan in search of someone else.

* * *

><p>AN: well there is the chapter, the battle didn't quite turn out as well as I had hoped with Ilya being told some details about the previous war and now Lorelei surprisingly being given free rein to move around the castle while Lelouch deals with his feelings involving Fujino and Sakura, but his talk with Medea is yet to come. Altrouge has arrived in Japan looking for the Witch King and ultimately his master and now the stakes are being stacked higher and higher.

Anyway for the poll Ilya is winning of course with Aoko in second and Lorelei following behind in third, but I'll let the poll go to fifty and up depending on any ties, but suggestions on the final pairing I am welcomed to hearing too. Anyway thank you in advance for your reviews they are very motivating and the input is also welcomed as well.

Here is another attempt at an omake, please enjoy.

* * *

><p>****Omake Special****<p>

Do not steal from the Queens of the Dark Lord

Enjoying a nice lunch at Ahnenerbe the Dark Lord Lelouch was seated at a large round table drinking a soft drink waiting for his order. When suddenly a young woman in her early twenties approached him, she had short red hair and brown eyes. She wears a white colored blouse with long sleeves, a red ribbon tie, black pants, and red high heels.

"Are you the Dark Lord Lelouch?" The red head asked.

"Who wants to know?"

"I am Sola-Ui Nuada-Re Sophia-Ri, let's be friends." Sola exclaimed happily while Lelouch was very suspicious of the woman's motives as he knew her character very well.

"I don't think a friendship could work out between us," Lelouch began while he was thinking.

_You'll backstab me the first chance you get. _

"You never know until you try."

"You won't get a chance…now I suggest you should leave."

"Oh come on stop playing hard together," Sola began, but her words were cut short as a dark tentacle wrapped itself around her body before covering her mouth.

"I tried to you warn you." Lelouch said causally while drinking his soft drink. Standing behind Sola was a clearly vexed Sakura who had turned into her dark alter ego at the sight of the red haired backstabbing woman trying to put the moves on HER man. Fujino looked ready to _bend _Sola straight to hell while Kotonoha had her sword ready.

"Lelouch-sama I would like to talk bikes with you?" Medea said approaching the Dark Lord with a magazine in her hands.

"Bikes?" Lelouch inquired as Medusa brought out a magazine and engaged in a long conversation with the Dark Lord as Medea spoke to Fujino, Kotonoha and Sakura giving the trio an idea. Dragging Sola away Fujino made a quick make shift sign and before long as Kotonoha began bitch slapping the helpless woman with Dark Sakura dangling Sola from the ceiling like a piñata. Within minutes Kallen Kozuki taps Kotonoha's shoulder.

"Here let me help you." Kallen instantly began slapping Sola's face while shouting "Stop giving redheads a bad name!"

Fujino held a jar with the word _One penny to join in _while a long line had quickly formed with the next person behind Kallen being Aoko, Rin and then Medea armed with a aluminum bat, Sion carrying a regular handgun deeming any other weapon to be a waste upon her and then Ciel sharpening her black keys to use on the woman once her turn came. The line kept growing and the Dark Lord remained distracted thanks to Rider.


End file.
